Will You Let Me Die For You?
by Dendriana
Summary: She was hurt and feeling betrayed by everyone and everything in that one moment. She inherited a secret she didn't ask to know about to protect some stranger she knew nothing about and had to give up a passion that she breathed, lived, and dreamed about. Life had officially shown how cruel it could be to her and she inwardly cursed the fates that laughed at her pain.
1. Prologue

_Character thoughts/ flashbacks_

**_Conscience_**

**Will You Let Me Die For You?**

* * *

**Prologue**

Have you ever had one of those days where one incident has the ability to turn everything you know inside out? One of those events that sound too ridiculously over dramatized to be possible -or maybe, something you simply cannot accept? When those "stranger than fiction" moments happen, and you realize that your life will never be the same again, a sickening gut wrenching twist in the pit of your stomach will drive you to the brink of sanity with anger and frustration, sometimes seemingly just to spite you. If you have never experienced this intense force of disappointment, God bless you and pray that you never do. Because of the events of my life, I was forced to change my future for the well-being of the most obnoxious human that ever set foot on this earth! But before I tell you who this mystery person is, allow me to introduce myself: my name is Anzu Mazaki, and I am currently a part of an organization that has dedicated its whole purpose to protecting a certain CEO of the most successful gaming and technology based company in Japan: Seto Kaiba. Yes, I work for Mr. Smiles himself, and what's even better is that he is not currently aware that I am working for him. But not just working, oh no, it is my duty as a member of the KCSP to see that he is not harmed under any circumstance.

I was not always a part of this organization, but I have been involved with it -pretty inactively- for a good three years up until now. That year of my life, that one summer, changed everything. You see, it was when I had just graduated into the first year class of Domino High School. Three months before the school year's end I had applied to the most prestigious dance academy in Tokyo. If I had been accepted there, I would have been able to transfer over to Julliard in New York City where I would have continued to study to become a professional dancer when I reached college age. I would have been able to continue my academic studies through the school's special online program and get my degree in the mail so all of my focus could be zeroed in on dance. Sure I would have to forfeit my ability to see my friends everyday, but I was willing to make that sacrifice, even though I was fifteen. Anyway, I was rushing home when school was let out for summer break absolutely ecstatic about the letter. I was expecting a letter from the academy in response to my application that I sent in, praying to God that I was accepted. That way I could pursue my dream of becoming a dancer.

I raced to the mailbox in front of our house, opening the container with shaky, anticipating hands. There were three pieces of mail: one for each of my parents and myself. The envelope that was sent to me had the logo of the dance academy decorating the front, the calligraphy of the addresses dancing on the paper. I was overjoyed to say the least, but I was also incredibly nervous at the same time. Wanting to share the moment with my parents, I ran inside, exclaiming that I had just received a letter from the school. I handed my parents their mail and sent them air kisses as they rushed into the room, just as excited as I was. They told me to open my letter first, but I told them that they should open theirs before mine, because I didn't want the moment to die after I left the room and they had to open up to find a large bill that needed to be paid. Their faces, now that I look back on it, had changed from excited to solemn in almost a flash. They read their letters and whatever the letters said had changed our lives forever. The memory still plays back in my head, even now:

"_Oh dear . . ." said a woman with long brown chocolate hair and dark grey eyes. She stood next to a man seated in a forest green, comfort chair. They both read letters that were written upon the same stationary, which led the youngest female in the room to believe that the letters were from the same sender. "Konami—"_

_The man interrupted the woman beside him with a solemn, "I know, I can't believe it either Ani . . ." his words lingering in the back of his throat. His blue sapphire eyes hidden half way behind his black disheveled hair. He sat erect in his chair, gripping his wife's hand that had once rested on his shoulder._

_The youngest female in the room looked from her mother to her father, an innocent question forming itself into the front of her mind. "What's wrong?"_

_Ani and Konami were shocked back into the reality of the situation in their home by the sound of their daughter's innocent and concerned voice. Blue sapphire eyes looked into grey ones, communicating wordlessly with each other until a visible nod was made, a neutral agreement being made between the two adults. Ani set her letter down on the table in the middle of the room and walked over to her daughter who was now sitting down on the couch. "Anzu . . . dear, your father and I have something to tell you."_

_Anzu cocked her head to the side, curiosity filling the sapphire eyes she inherited from her father as the chocolate locks she inherited from her mother accentuated the tilt of her head. "Is there something the matter?" her voice was light, though worry was clearly heard in her voice; her parents were acting a little strange since opening their mail._

"_Anzu," her father stood up, his 6'2" figure towering over her and looking twice as tall. His voice was stern and his face serious while opposed to her mother who was sitting next to her on the couch holding her hands, though the same serious look graced her features, "it's time you found out what your mother and I do for a living."_

_Anzu wanted to break out laughing, but instead only let a small snicker through. "You're kidding right?" She looked from her father to her mother in disbelief. "I already know what you two do for a living. Mom you're a lawyer and dad you're a—"_

"—_Police officer. Yes, we know you're aware of that." His voice was stiff as it interrupted her almost rudely. "But what you are not aware of is that your mother and I only work at these jobs as a cover up for our real jobs."_

_Anzu's countenance was now contorted with extreme confusion. "Cover up? For what? Don't tell me you're actually spies for the American CIA and are here trying to gather intelligence for some weird conspiracy or something like that! I won't believe you if you do." She said incredulously. "The whole idea is ridiculous!"_

_Ani sighed, "Well, then this looks like it's going to be harder than we thought."_

"_Indeed," responded Konami. "Anzu, please, come follow me for a moment." He walked out of the living and up the stairs, disappearing as he went around the corner._

_Anzu stared after his retreating figure with no intention of actually following him. When she noticed her daughter just staring blankly into space, Ani stood up, her daughter's hands in hers, and led her to wherever her husband had disappeared to, knowing exactly where he was headed._

_Anzu was lead blindly up the stairs and to her attic entrance. She continued to remain in her haze of confusion as she was led through the hole in the ceiling and up into the dusty, tight room. She sneezed twice as she stepped into the room and stirred the settled dust on the ground. "Mom . . . where's Dad? Is _this _where he wanted to lead me?" She looked around the dark filthy room. It was unbearably hot and stuffy since there was no air circulating to produce anything fresh and inviting._

"_Well . . . yes and no." Ani said, dragging out her words. Anzu only looked at her strangely. "Come, I'll show you where your father is." She took her daughter by the hand once more before guiding her to the back of the attic. It was even smaller and more cramped, but before they reached the back, Ani stopped her and touched something that Anzu couldn't see. She didn't know if it was because it was so dark that she couldn't see whatever her mother was doing, but Anzu highly doubted it. Somehow, she doubted that there was anything there, but she could only guess what her mother was doing._

_Before Ani could finish whatever it was that she was doing, a bright light appeared out of nowhere, blinding Anzu for a few seconds. When she opened her eyes and adjusted them to the sudden bright light, she saw the silhouette of her father standing before her. _

"_Anzu" her father said with the utmost seriousness in his voice. "When you walk into this room, you must, I repeat, you MUST NOT speak of what you see! What you are about to witness is highly confidential and even dangerous. You're life will no longer be normal once you step in here."_

_Anzu, if not confused before, was most definitely bewildered now! "What the hell is going on here? What is in that room? And just what are you guys thinking keeping a secret room up here that I don't know about? Let alone see!"_

_Ani jerked Anzu. "Don't you ever use that tone of voice young lady! We are your parents and have a life of our own. There are many things that you don't know about and probably wouldn't have to find out about if we didn't receive orders from above to tell you." Her mother looked at her harshly, her grey eyes almost swirling like the eye of a hurricane. _

_Anzu gulped and nodded. "Forgive me, I was out of place when I said that. It's just that . . . I'm confused and a little scared. Where are you guys going with this?"_

_Ani and Konami exchanged another glance and nodded. "Come in Anzu, we will explain everything once you're inside."_

_Anzu nodded solemnly and walked in, side-by-side with her mother. _

_Once inside, Anzu looked around and was struck dumb by her surroundings. White, high-tech computers lined the oddly black painted walls. A low whine from the computers could be heard and several monitors were on and active, seemingly to be doing searches or gathering information. In the middle of the small room was a small mahogany table with a decorated midnight blue tablecloth with stars and dark water in which dolphins leapt mysteriously out of the water and into the night sky, dancing in the light of the moon. That was the only thing that was decorated in the entire room. Everything else was plain. She looked at the table again and saw a picture lying on the table; a picture of a very handsome man that looked no older than Anzu was. She knew his face from somewhere, but couldn't quite place it. "Mom? Dad? Who is that in the picture?" she asked, bending down to pick it up, staring at it._

"_You see dear, that's the thing we have to tell you."_

_Anzu looked at them, clearly not understanding where this was going. "Do tell."_

"_You may want to sit down." Anzu leaned against the mahogany table, ready to listen to the explanation to what her parents were about to give. _

_Her father sighed, preparing for a long discussion that he would have rather avoided. "Well, first off, like I said before, the jobs your mother and I have are cover ups for our real jobs. Our _real_ jobs are actually pretty much what you said earlier."_

"_What you mean about the whole American CIA thing? I was just kidding!"_

_This time, her mother stepped in. "Yes well, that's not _exactly _what your father and I do, but it is pretty close. You see Anzu," she took in a deep breath as well apparently trying to calm down, "your father and I are a part of a secret organization that is dedicated to the protection of the CEO of KaibaCorp. Or as you so commonly know him as Seto Kaiba."_

_Anzu blinked . . . once . . . twice . . . thrice . . . "What? I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what you're saying?"_

"_Anzu, what we are trying to tell you is that we are not a police officer and a lawyer," said her father point-blank. "We are secret police with one mission and one mission only: protect the current owner of Kaiba Corporation from any and all threats. That's what your mother and I do. It is our duty as part of the KCSP."_

_Anzu did a double-take. "The what?"_

"Kaiba Corporation Secret Police_. We were originally founded and put together by the original Kaiba who had founded KaibaCorp.: Gozaburo Kaiba—"_

"_Hold it!" __She put her hand up to stop her parents from going any farther. _Seto Kaiba she may not know, but Gozaburo Kaiba was definitely a name she remembered. He was the billionaire who made sold military grade weapons -at least that's what she remembered from her modern history class. "Gozaburo Kaiba? How- why are you working for him?"

"_We're not working for him, however this organization was put together by him before he went, as your generation would put it, psycho. You see, to give you a little background information, Kaiba had just finished putting together his corporation and was expecting it to be very successful. He also had just been married and was expecting a child soon. Well, his company took off faster than the Bullet Train and soon he was the wealthiest man in all of Japan. Not long after, his wife gave birth to a son. Being the man that he was at the time, he wanted to make sure that he and his family were completely protected from outside harm; and so he put together the KCSP in order to ensure his safety as a CEO and that of his family."_

_Anzu nodded, slowly taking all of this in one piece at a time._

"_However," her mother continued for her dad, "Kaiba had kept this a secret from his family and employees at his headquarters. For some odd reason, he wanted to keep the KCSP a secret from the media and public. He knew that any information that was leaked out into the public would grab the attention of the media and more possible assassins in the future."_

_Anzu didn't quite understand. "Why would learning about a secret organization that protects someone draw more killers?"_

"_You know that phrase: 'if you keep someone away from something, they start to want it'?" Anzu nodded. "Well, that's basically the knowledge that Kaiba was operating under."_

"_Oh I see. I understand now. But I still don't understand . . . Why would have Gozaburo not told his family about it?"_

_Her father shrugged. "His reasons for not telling them remain unknown to everyone in the organization. Some agents claim that he was nothing but a worry wart about the whole and that he liked his privacy way too much! But whatever the case was, it's n__eedless to say that the man was paranoid beyond rationalization._"

"_Yeah, I can see that. But then how did he choose who to put in the organization? In fact, how many were on the team originally?"_

"_Originally, Kaiba chose the offspring of the five men he trusted the most. There were very few people that Kaiba trusted at this time, but the ones that he trusted greatly were all older men. Thankfully, they all had offspring in their early to late twenties. They agreed to their position and now they are currently the heads of the organization. They will soon be passing on their leadership to either their children or to the ones they believe will be most dedicated to our mission."_

"_All right . . . but what about other members? Wasn't this supposed to be a __**secret **__organization? How is it that others found out about it? In fact, why did this organization survive after Gozaburo committed suicide? Shouldn't they have disbanded?"_

"_To answer your first question about there being other members and the organization being kept a secret: yes. The KCSP remains to be a secret even to today. The way we gained other members is through a code or motto if you will. 'If an outsider should ever find out about the existence of the organization, then they must swear their loyal services to the Kaiba family for the rest of their lives. They must protect the Kaiba family even at the cost of their own lives. The name Kaiba comes before you: their family before your family; their lives before your lives. If they refuse, then drastic action must be taken in order to keep the secret forever.'" Konami's face was stern and his voice hardened. _

_Anzu's eyes narrowed suspiciously, not liking where this was going. "What exactly do you mean by 'drastic action'?"_

_Ani took in a staggered breath before answering. "You see dear, once an outsider discovers the existence of the KCSP they have a choice: (1) become a part of the organization and dedicate their lives to protecting and serving the Kaiba family or (2) take the secret of the KCSP to an early grave."_

_Anzu paled. "WHAT! An early grave? You're joking right? Please tell me you're joking!" Ani's and Konami's faces remained grim. "My god . . . MY GOD! What the hell is wrong with this organization? Can't they keep a secret WITHOUT killing anybody? No wonder it's a secret, nobody wants to tell because they know their life is on the line if they do!" Anzu exclaimed, completely disgusted with what she had just learned. "How did this thing even stay together? I thought that it would have fallen out after Gozaburo's suicide."_

_Konami was silent for a moment, contemplating his words before he said anything. "That's what the members of the KCSP thought as well. But, instead of disbanding, they continued to remain in action, protecting the CEO of the corporation even after Kaiba died. I asked one of the heads about it before. His reply was something like: 'We couldn't protect the original owner from himself, so we're trying to make amends with this new CEO. We have to protect the CEO and his family from any and all dangers, including themselves.' I was actually moved by his words."_

_Anzu snorted. "Yeah, I bet. That's all very touching and moving and all . . . but what about you two? How did you guys get roped into this?" They both blushed, crimson painting their cheeks as Anzu sweat-dropped again. "Am I going to regret hearing this tale?"_

"_Uh . . . huh, well now. Actually, that's a . . . um," Konami cleared his throat, "very interesting story. You see . . . when your mother and I were very young, just out of college, we—" _

_Anzu, once again, put her hand up to stop him from going on. "That's okay Dad, I don't need to know the details. Just say what actually happened please and spare me the 'life lesson' that is to be learned from that." Anzu asked in an almost pleading tone._

"_We were making out in the attic and then stumbled upon the door."_

"_ANI!" protested a very crimson Konami._

" _It opened and we fell in . . . ah-hah, boy were my parents surprised!"_

_Anzu was shocked silent for a few moments before: "AHHHHH! MENTAL IMAGE! DID NOT NEED! DID **NOT** NEED!" she cried out, covering her eyes. "I'M SCARRED FOR LIFE!"_

_Ani went over to her cringing daughter, red covering her cheeks before hitting her back. "Oh that's enough! You're fifteen for crying out loud! Act your age, you're not a little kid anymore!" She said sternly, though clearly still embarrassed._

"_I'm sorry mom, but the mental image of you two just . . . never mind. I don't even want to FINISH that sentence." She sighed, getting back to the topic at hand. "Anyway, so, does this mean that I'll have to become a part of this organization? Not that I really have a choice right?" She asked bitterly._

_Konami sighed, "Anzu . . . I—" Anzu looked away from him, clearly not happy with the obvious decision that has been made for her. "I'm sorry. Please believe me when I say that I am. But we really need your help. We've had orders from the top to tell you about KCSP because they need your help."_

_Anzu looked at her dad now, confusion once again making itself too comfortable on her face. "What? Why would they want me?"_

_Ani stepped in to answer. "Because you will have a close connection with Seto Kaiba -the new CEO of Kaiba Corporation."_

_Anzu stared at them. "Close connection? With a CEO? You've got to be kidding me...how is that even possible? I don't even know the guy!"_

_Ani nodded her head. "That may be true now Anzu, but not for long. You're going to transfer into Domino High School right?" When Anzu's reluctant silence remained, Ani simply sighed and continued. "That is going to be the same high school that the young CEO will be attending."_

_Anzu's eyes widened in disbelief. "What? Wait... you really mean that he's my age..." She let that sink in for a moment. The CEO of a major company was going to be attending the local private school that was less than twenty minutes from her house. Needless to say, she was confused. "Why doesn't he just get a private tutor? If he's really the CEO of Kaiba Corporation, why would he need to go to school in the first place?"_

_Konami replied, "For the plain and simple fact that even though he is a successful and has a powerful mind, he is still a fifteen year old boy who needs to graduate high school. His business partners would lose respect for him if he didn't at least obtain his graduation certificate."_

_Anzu scrunched her nose in disapproval. "That's not fair. He's the CEO of a successful business, that alone should be enough to earn their respect!" __Ani and Konami simply smiled in amusement at their daughter's declaration. Seeing their grins, she tilted her head in wonderment. "What? Did I say something funny?"_

_Ani placed a gentle hand on her daughter's shoulder. "No, it's just- well, you'll understand when you're older. The business world is not as simple as you think it is my dear." Anzu opened her mouth to ask her mother what she meant, however Ani placed a finger over her daughter's lips and shook her head. "It's just something you're going to have to learn on your own."_

_Anzu nodded and remained silent, thinking over everything she has just learned. "So, what exactly would this KC...organization need from me?"_

_"According to this letter," spoke Konami as he reached for the paper he placed on the desk, "you will need to enroll in the same school as Kaiba and get close to him somehow."_

_"You mentioned that earlier. What exactly do you mean by 'get close'?" Anzu questioned, feeling slightly uncomfortable about where this particular conversation could go._

_Sensing her discomfort, Konami eased her mind with his reply, "Just try to be his friend, or at the very least an acquaintance. As members of this organization -as you put it- we can't get too close to the CEO because we don't want him to know who we are and what we do. You have to remain as incognito as possible about it, but you also have to remember your full responsibility to him."_

_Anzu sighed in relief. "I suppose I can do that. I'm all for making friends and everything, but the last I want is to be a stalker."_

_Her mother smiled in amusement again, "Don't worry sweetheart. No one is asking that of you...yet", she added the last part quietly so Anzu wouldn't hear._

_Konmai, who had explained everything the best he could at that time, felt it was time to press his daughter for an answer. "Well Anzu? Now that you know the situation and you know your choices... what will you choose?" He knew his daughter and had faith in her, but he was hesitant about her choice. He knew her judgement was sound and was fairly certain which option she would choose, but she was still young. He didn't want his precious only daughter getting caught up in such a complicated complex of businessmen, intelligence, and scientific advancement. He wanted her to lead a normal life so she could go on to fulfill her dream. He briefly glanced at his wife, who wanted the same thing as he did. But the choice was up to Anzu now; her life was -quite blatantly- in her own hands. "Anzu?"  
_

_Anzu looked down away from her parents' faces, lost in thought. _They must really need me then. _Making her final decision, Anzu nodded. "All right. I'll do it."_

_Ani and Konami both released and tightly held breath that neither of them realized they were holding. "Oh thank you Anzu! Thank you," She embraced her daughter, relieved to know that no execution orders were going to be made that night."Thank you so much my sweet, sweet daughter." Anzu was a little taken aback by her mother's sudden display of affection, but before she could return the hug, her father had crossed the small room and patted the top of her head._

_"That's my girl," he said, his smile both happy and somewhat worried. "Now that you've made the decision, it's time for your initiation." He walked over to the computer and started it up, preparing to initiate his daughter in as a KCSP guardian._

_Ani released her daughter so she could sit down as Anzu summarized everything from the passed fifteen minutes of her life out loud. "Okay, so I need to be a part of this organization in order to protect this kid CEO -and whatever family he has- from all dangers because the former CEO killed himself and this KCSP has placed the strict obligation on itself to makeup for their failures with the previous CEO. Right..." She looked at her dad who's attention was focused on her- he almost looked like he was expecting something. Putting the thought aside, Anzu continued along her train of though. "So, all I have to do is make friend's with this Kaiba guy and go to the same school? Well, I guess that w- wait! What about my dancing? What about the academy I applied to?" She pleaded with her eyes looking frantically back and forth from her mother to her father, who's eyes had fallen to the floor. She felt tears sting the back of her eyes, as her heart twisted painfully in her chest. "Mom? Dad?"_

_Her dad sighed. "I'm sorry honey..."_

_Anzu's face looked distraught. It's the only thing she's been dreaming about for the past fifteen years of her life! And then suddenly her dreams were to be snatched away from her by some little secret that she didn't even really care about? No, she would not stand for this._

"_No! No, I will not let this dream go!" She turned away from her parents and covered her ears, a sign of withdrawal._

_Ani shook her daughter by the shoulders. "Anzu! Anzu dear look at me. Look at me!" Anzu peaked around to her mother and stared at her. "Don't lose yourself right now! Stay calm. You may not be able to go to that academy, but you can still dance!"_

_Anzu shook her head with tightly closed eyes. "That academy is my ticket to New York; that's where my dreams will come true. Why do I have to give it up for some rich snob who won't even know I'm there to keep him safe!" She was hurt and feeling betrayed by everyone and everything in that one moment. She inherited a secret she didn't ask to know about to protect some stranger she knew nothing about and had to give up a passion that she breathed, lived, and dreamed about. Life had officially shown how cruel it could be to her and she inwardly cursed the fates that laughed at her pain._

_"Why...why does it have to be now, right when everything was going so well?" She cried, she cried long and hard. "It's not fair!"_

_Ani shook her daughter by the shoulders. "Anzu! Anzu dear look at me. Look at me!" Anzu peaked around to her mother and stared at her. "Don't lose yourself right now! Stay calm. You can still dance! Maybe not at that academy as a student, but other dance studios in the area."_

"_But mom, I—"_

"_No 'buts' dear. Now listen. Yes, you are, from here on out, required to protect Kaiba in secret, but you are also, in a way, free to do whatever you want here. They have a high class dance studio right here in Domino and you once you graduate high school you will most likely be released from your duties from following Kaiba so closely so you can still go to that academy after you graduate high school." Anzu's wailing had subsided, silent tears rolling down her cheeks now. "You see, you can always go there. It's not Julliard I know and it's not the timing you wanted, but still it's better than nothing right?" Anzu looked down, but nodded. Her mother was right. She couldn't let this little inauguration get her down. She'd just have to be patient, right?_

_Ani looked at her husband who had been staring at them for a while. She nodded to let him proceed. Konami, walked cautiously over to his daughter and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Come on, we have to let them know that you agree." Anzu nodded silently and stood up, following her dad over to one of the many flashing monitors. He hit the spacebar, getting a sign-in screen to pop up. Konami signed in and once he was in clicked around on the screen for a few moments before letting Anzu take over. A white screen had popped up and had said "New User" at the top. She looked at her father curiously. "It's like you're signing up for an e-mail address. We've tried to make the inauguration as easy as possible. And since it's difficult to get to the actual headquarters, we've developed this. It's much easier and more convenient as well. Not too mention less suspicious."_

_Anzu wanted to ask what he meant by "less suspicious" but had decided to ask another time. This was just too much for her to take in at once. She filled out the form that was required before sending it. As soon as she pressed the "enter" key, however, a tray popped out, a small disk being held out. Anzu looked at it quizzically, noting that it was familiar. She then felt her father take her hand, dap her finger with a most cloth and then pricked her finger with a sterilized needle. "Yipe!" Anzu yelped at the sudden stinging pain in her middle right finger. "What was that for?"_

"_Well, when you need to get into this room, a blood sample is often taken to identify you. Well also need your finger prints and eye scan. After that we'll be able to create your own, personal password that works anywhere and everywhere there's a hidden KCSP door."_

"_How will I be able to tell where one is? It's not like I was exactly able to see where this door was you know?"_

_Konami laughed lightly. "Don't worry, you'll know. There's a chip that is implanted in your eyes to help you see."_

"_I-In my eyes! Isn't that dangerous?"_

"_Well, the actual thing isn't implanted in your eyes directly. What happens is that it's surgically placed in your blood stream and is directed to where your eyes are. It takes about a month for you to be able to see where the doors will be after the so-called 'surgery', but that's it. Until then, we'll give you a watch that will indicate if there is a door near you. I highly suggest that you keep the watch even after you can see the doors on your own. You'll never know where a door is if you're not in the same room as it, got it?" Anzu nodded._

_After everything had been finished, Anzu and Ani began working on a unique password only Anzu would be able to identify herself with. After everything was completed, they went back downstairs, a worn out Anzu descending the stairs clumsily. This was too much for her in one day. All she wanted to do was take a nap and open her letter. _

_She gasped. "Oh my god! My letter! I completely forgot about it!" She ran over to the letter on the couch where she had left it, a rush of excitement once again clinging to her insides, making them stir. She ripped open the seal carelessly and took out the stationary . . ._

And that's how it all happened. Yes, I know, you probably think me strange don't you? Well, I will pay you no mind about that. But do you see what I mean when one incident can change your life forever? And now, here I am. A three years later and I'm serving and protecting Kaiba and Mokuba without either of them knowing. I didn't know what to expect at first. But then, after the first few months, yes after I had the ability to see the KCSP "portals" as they are called and still kept the watch, I have often found myself following Kaiba around at a distance. Good thing he doesn't go very many places, it'd be harder on me if he did. Mokuba on the other, well, that kid is a COMPLETELY different story! One minute he's in the park and the next he's in an ice cream parlor. Not that he needs more sugar anyway. He's hyper enough as it is when he's not on it. So, that's my life now: completely and absolutely dedicated to my clueless employer Seto Kaiba. Isn't it wonderful? I have a new nickname to add to the list for him.

Huh? Oh, you mean about the letter from the academy right? Well, just so you know I didn't get in. But, the reason was quite bizarre; I still don't understand it to this day, though I still have the letter. Here:

_Dear Mazaki-san:_

_Thank you for applying to our dance academy. I must say that on behalf on all of us here on the board for the school, never have we seen a student with such glistening talent and potential, especially someone of such a young age. However, as much as I regret saying this, I am afraid that our academy finds your talent and grace to be too overwhelming for our students here. This academy is used as a prep school to teach those who want to make it to Julliard but still need more practice before actually transferring or applying. I do, however, recommend that you apply directly to Julliard. With your outstanding technique and blooming passion for dance as an expression of yourself and life, you are sure to be accepted with flying colors._

_I do regret not being able to welcome you to our academy, but my blessings are upon you nonetheless. May you fully succeed as a professional dancer in Julliard. You will take the world by storm!_

_Keep practicing hard—_

_Maeda, Toru_

Figures huh? My one chance at being able to attend the best dance academy in all of Japan so I can eventually go to Julliard and they refuse me because I'm too talented. Life -isn't it... fickle?

* * *

Well, what do you think? If you have ANY criticism at all, please reply! I'm eager to know what you think of this . . .

Cangel41790


	2. Challenges Made and Lessons to Learn

_Thoughts/ Flashbacks_

**_Conscience_**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters that were used to bring my plot to life (save for the names of Anzu's parents)

**Challenges Made and Lessons to be Learned**

* * *

It seemed to be a busy day in the city of Domino. People bustled about themselves: adults shopped for food and clothes in department stores while teenagers and kids chattered away and played in the parks and on the sidewalks. Cars lined the streets next to the sidewalks, a definite line separating pedestrians and drivers. Only a fool would have not seen the obvious divide.

On the street, cars zoomed by, all of them trying to beat rush hour traffic to get home where their families waited for them. Others, however, had jobs to get to and deals to make. Amongst these few was none other than Seto Kaiba. He sat in the back of his limo, talking on his cell phone with one of his executives about the upcoming meeting he was having in the next fifteen minutes. An unreadable expression rested on his features as his chauffer continued down the street, turning and stopping at every point smoothly. No interruptions were to be made while Kaiba was on the phone, whether it be a child running into the middle of the street or a ball hitting the wind-shield. No, mistakes were not an option . . . unless the driver wanted to find himself down at the umemployment agency.

As soon as Kaiba disconnected the line to end the conversation, the limo had arrived at the KaibaCorp. building. The chauffer opened the door for Kaiba as soon as could, and waited while listening to any commands that his employer would give to him. If he said nothing right as he got out, then he would close the door and head over to pick the youngest Kaiba from school. Today, he had no new instructions to do anything else and so he quickly and quietly shut the car door and ran around to the front of the limo and hurriedly entered the car, put on his seat belt, and drove off for Domino Junior High since the youngest Kaiba was now thirteen and a becoming seventh grader.

Kaiba walked into the cool building of Kaiba Corporation. The sound of his feet hitting up against the tile floor reverberated off the walls and to the ears of the secretary at the front desk. She looked up and greeted him only to receive a grunt from him before he walked over to the elevator and into it immediately after he pressed the button. As soon as the doors closed, the room automatically traveled up to the floor where his office was located. A minute or two later, the doors opened and Kaiba stepped out, the doors closing behind him. He walked to the doors of this office slowly, waiting for the secretary to give her usual greetings. Right on cue, the young secretary stood and gave him her usual "Good afternoon" greeting before saying that his "12:30" was waiting for him in his office. He grunted again in response as he opened the doors to his office: his desk seated at the farthest end of the room next to a wall sized window and in front of his desk were two chairs that comforted two men of an important company in which he would be discussing business with today. They appeared to have been talking with each other before he had arrived, but when he did, they immediately stopped their banter, looked over toward the entryway, and stood to greet him. They reached their hands to shake his, while he followed suit. He grinned slightly, knowing that the deal would go well, but in his mind he frowned. God how he didn't want to be here right now, but he had a job to do. So he sucked it up and sat down in his desk, listening to whatever the men had to say to him. Already he could tell that this would be a long meeting. A good one, but a long one nonetheless.

Anzu watched as Kaiba exited the limo and entered the building to begin the meeting through her camera sunglasses. Once she was sure everything proceeded normally, she terminated the connection by folding them and sticking them in her pocket. These glasses only reacted when she was wearing them and the eye scan matched positive between the mini-AI chip and the wear's eyes, so if any other person wore them, the camera would not be activated. She had two: one for Kaiba and the other for Mokuba, which was what she was switching to. She had been waiting outside his school in the distance, not wanting anyone to notice her. She stood under the shade of a tall oak tree, which was planted out of place in front of the school, dressed in all black, her identical sunglasses completing the ensemble. Her outfit matched those of "Men in Black" to a "T", yet no one noticed her strange clothing arrangement on such a hot day?

She scoffed, _Typical! I forgot people are too wrapped up in their own lives in order to notice anything peculiar going on around them. I swear they're all living an enormously small box . . . Yeah, nice use of oxymoron there Mazaki!_

She looked down at her digital watch, everyday it kept track of the time in which the limo would come to pick Mokuba up, and everyday it's always on time. If the limo were even one nanosecond late of picking up the young Kaiba, Anzu would have a fit . . . well, HQ would any way; but she would have one in turn because they would jump down her throat about it. It takes ten minutes exactly to get from the KaibaCorp building to the Junior High. The time had become routine for her over the past year. At first, she had a hard time trying to adapt to the specifics of being a KSPO agent, but she did. She had to; she had no choice in the matter. She wanted desperately to change some of their regulations, but only received the same response to her comment:

_"KSPO has been operating under the same rules since Gozaburo's reign in KaibaCorp. To change the rules now would change our morals and beliefs in which we were created to defend. Change is out of the question. Only a fool would want to change a good thing."_

She sighed. Oh well, no one couldn't say that she didn't try. Oh no, in fact, she hasn't stopped trying. Slowly, yet surely, she would get the executives of this organization to change their stubborn ways. One day! But until then, she'll just go on with their plans until they catch the perpetrators trying to release Gozaburo and The Big Five from their virtual prison. About seven months ago, certain parts of the rumors of "G5 Escape", the codename for the release of Gozaburo and The Big Five, became factual; right smack dab in the middle of Anzu's training to become a successful KSPO agent no less! Just how lucky was she? Not only did her training become harder and advanced more quickly, she was forced to work twice as fast as the regular KSPO newbies. Why? Because she had a special connection that put her on an entirely different scale than from the other agents: she went to school with their favorite CEO.

Probably wondering why they didn't just put a previously trained KSPO member into the school itself and observe him, huh? Well that answer is simple enough: why put in an agent when a perfect candidate was already sitting three seats in front of the target? That and the fact that she already had two very successful parents whom were already devoted to the organization. Plus, she took to the training like a fish to water . . . there was practically nothing she couldn't do if they ordered her to do something. That is, expect listen without causing grief. Its times like those that make the heads of every department of the organization wonder why they wanted her there again.

Just then the sound of a smooth car drove up to the front of the gate of the school, bringing Anzu back from her wandering thoughts. She stood attentively as she watched a thirteen-year-old young man step out of the gate, his hands thrust in his pockets and his briefcase tucked under his left arm, resembling MUCH of his elder brother. Anzu chuckled. She had watched the young boy grow up from a far for a year now. He began looking more and more like his brother everyday, even his attitude became arrogant at times, but deep down he was still the same old Mokuba. The same Mokuba she helped escape from the rare hunters; the same Mokuba that had been ready to battle her best friend during Duelist Kingdom to help his brother. He might change on the outside, but he would always stay the same on the inside.

She watched as he stepped into the opened limo door, thanking the chauffer automatically before it closed and was being driven away. Here, this is where Anzu walked over to a heap of leaves that had a strange crease to them in the middle before touching the air that was about a good three and a half feet above the ground. As soon as she did an electronic gleam traveled down the invisible object that her hand rested on, revealing the shape of a bicycle before the color and detail were added in. She threw up the kick stand with her foot before sitting on the seat and began riding off in the direction of the limo. She didn't have to see the limo in order to follow it. No, she knew the way to the Kaiba Mansion by heart. She could close her eyes and ride there unharmed . . . which she has done before and had received one hell of a scolding from her mother for it. She sighed, the job was cool with all of the interesting gadgets that came with it: the invisible bike, the watch, the mini-chips, the sunglasses . . . but when it came to having fun with them _that_ was a big "no-no". She sighed, one day she would get them to change. One day! She just wanted to know _when_ that day would come.

She turned a corner and spotted the limo again before it disappeared around another turn. As she practically followed the car while it was out of her sight, she watched Mokuba through her thick glasses. He lay on the seat of the limo, stretching and yawning every now and then and tossed and turned, apparently trying to get in a nap before they arrived at the mansion and start on his homework. She laughed; _He's just as lazy as ever I see._

Not a minute later, according to Anzu's watch anyway, they arrived at the mansion. She parked her bike under the shade of the trees that lined the walls of the gate surrounding the perimeter of the estate. The limo stopped and waited for the gates to open before continuing on up the incredibly long drive way that rounded itself around a fountain in the front of the house. Anzu would have followed suit, but that was another rule that she had to obey: _Any and all members of the KSPO are prohibited, unless given special permission, to enter the estate of the Kaiba family. _Anzu sighed, what the problem was with actually going up to the front doors of the mansion she would never know. But those were the rules and she HAD to obey . . . lest she be _severely_ punished. Not that it wasn't something she wasn't used to . . .

She clenched her fists and decided to push those thoughts away. She'd just continue to make herself angry if she thought that way. So instead she watched Mokuba through her glasses. So far he was doing the same thing he did in the car: lying down on the couch and yawning; completely ignoring the homework that had been assigned to him. She laughed lightly, the boy really was becoming lazy. What he needed was some encouragement to stay on top of his priorities. _I wouldn't mind helping him. _She thought, but immediately dismissed the idea. Unless she was asked to personally by the Kaibas, _without_ putting the idea in their heads, she couldn't really get near them.

Again she sighed. "Oh well. Might as well get started on that homework of mine if I plan on graduating."

Good thing she started her "stalking" right after school so she still had everything she needed. Plus, her job lasted as long as the meeting Kaiba was in lasted, and sometimes that was late into the night. _Poor man_, she thought as she reminisced on a time in which he came home past three in the morning after just closing a deal that had raised the popularity of his corporation by nearly thirty percent. The deal, she had to admit was great, but it wasn't worth losing so many hours of sleep. She went to school the next day wondering if she would see him there. Sure enough there he was, however she could tell that he was more withdrawn than usual . . . if that was possible. He seemed to be dozing in class, but no one else noticed except for her. It could have been because she had been tailing him everyday after school or just her imagination, but lately she's been able to read him a little more. She knows when he's tired, why he's on edge, and how his company has been progressing. She sighed for the umpteenth time that day, that man REALLY needed a vacation. _I'm just glad that today is Saturday. I don't have much homework, which means that he doesn't either, and he could possibly catch a break tomorrow . . ._

About fifteen minutes later she finished her homework and began concentrating on other related thoughts. The homework itself was not hard . . . not all, it was just annoying. Next to Kaiba in the entire school, not that she would brag, she was the smartest. Also, lately, she noticed that all of these late nights were beginning to affect her work in the class. She had continued to put her homework off for about two weeks when she had first started "stalking" Kaiba and Mokuba. When she noticed her grades beginning to slip, she had decided that she needed to take her homework on her "mission" with her. It was a pain, but she would rather be burdened with the extra weight than have her friends and teachers become suspicious of why her grades were suddenly slipping. It was the best way to avoid any questions that she didn't want to answer.

She stretched and yawned after putting her homework away in her school backpack and leaned up against the tree she lay under. Through her glasses she watched as Mokuba was now up and watching television, from what she could tell, it was the news; something about an escaped killer on the loose looking for targets. She sighed and assumed that he had no intention of doing his homework. She frowned a little, he was never going to get any where in life if he put off the stuff he needed to do. Kaiba would also not be too pleased about his brother flunking out of junior high because he never did what he was supposed to. She knew Mokuba was capable of straight A's. Hell, if anyone could pull of grades higher than A's then Mokuba was the one for sure! She had never seen such a clever little boy before! Well, there was Kaiba, but he wasn't exactly _little_ now. If only she could help motivate Mokuba into doing his homework then it wouldn't put any extra pressure on his or Kaiba's shoulders. Kaiba had enough to worry about and the added worry of Mokuba's slipping grades would only cause him more head ache. She thought it over, maybe she could convince the KSPO executives that Mokuba getting a tutor would be best for Kaiba and him in the future, seeing how he is the next one in line to take over KaibaCorp. after his brother retires.

But then that thought just brought up the whole new idea of Kaiba retiring. She laughed out loud to herself at this. "Kaiba? Retire? Yeah, right! He'd sooner get married and watch his wife die first." She didn't mean to be cruel about it, but the whole thought of Kaiba retiring was . . . well, ridiculous. Could one really see that man with grey hair, wrinkles, and a warm smile on his face standing outside of some retirement home with his arm draped around a woman the same age as him? This had Anzu rolling in the grass. The idea was just too funny!

Once she calmed down, she sat back and wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. She looked at her watch, it was about 3:30 PM. _Time sure does fly by quickly when you're deep in thought._ She sighed; time to check up on Kaiba-boy. She switched her "Wooden Horses" for her "Blue Eyes" and watched Kaiba stand up and reach over the desk to shake hands with the executives, closing the deal. Judging from the partially relaxed look on his face, Anzu deduced that the meeting went well, but he also looked tired. The meeting must have ended sooner than he had expected. However, a three hour meeting isn't exactly soothing for one's nerves either. She watched as the two men left the office and Kaiba fall backwards into his leather chair, his right hand thumb and index and middle fingers massaging his temples. He looked exhausted and it looked like the beginnings of a headache were presenting themselves. She predicted his next move in one thought: _He'll open the top left drawer of his desk, take out a bottle of aspirin, take two pills, swallow them dry, then take out his laptop and start checking on the company's progress in sales and stock before turning it off and heading out of the building_.

Sure enough, her prediction, word for word, came true. If there was one thing that Anzu took notice of immediately was that Seto Kaiba was a man of habit and routine. Especially when it came to his job and school attendance. His main goal was just to show up, he didn't have to go to school to get a degree, but she found that it was his brother who encouraged him to "mingle" with others his age. He said that he didn't have much of a life outside of work so the least he could do was _go_ to school instead of just sit in front of a computer all day taking online courses and getting his degree in the mail. Even though she knew Kaiba would love nothing more than to do that, he obeyed his younger brother's wishes and went to school. Of course, that didn't mean that he actually had to _talk_ with people, in which most cases he didn't. Except for the occasional insults he threw and her and her friends . . . mainly Jounouchi. At first she faulted Kaiba for doing so, but now she kind of understood that insulting "the mutt" was a good release for him and her arguments that she sometimes got into with him were also refreshing for his mind. He is around his mindless employees and deplorable, air headed classmates all day, and that bored him. At least when he argued with her he actually had to come up with intelligent remarks to hit her with, just as she had to do with him. They were a pretty good match for each other, she had to admit. Perhaps in a different life they would have been friends?

Anzu laughed out loud again. "Yeah, right! Me? Friends with that arrogant, egotistical, pig-headed fool? That's a good one!" Still, even as she said this, a deep, unconscious part within her brain kept hope a live that maybe, somehow they could become friends.

Once again, Anzu focused her attention back onto her target, watching as he exited the building and into his limo that arrived on time. Looking at her watch she saw that the time was now 4:45 PM. _So, he's coming home earlier today . . . that's good._ She smiled, standing up to prepare her bike after putting her backpack on as she watched him travel safely within the confines of his limo. It took about another fifteen minutes to get from the Kaiba Corp office to the mansion, so she sat on her bike, waiting for the gates to open. She sat erect, knowing that if she slumped she would have fallen asleep because she was becoming increasingly more bored by the second. That was the thing about playing "invisible baby-sitter" for the Kaiba brothers; it was an _extremely_ boring job. That's another reason why she brought her homework with her, to give her something to do. Hell, when she got too bored she actually taught herself the next lesson in the upcoming chapters, just so she could be ahead of the game in class. Of course, she would much rather be spending time with her friends, but ever since she was initiated into the KSPO she hadn't had the time to spend with them. They began asking her why she was so busy one day, but because she couldn't give them a straight answer she simply replied:

_"Oh, well, something happened at home and well . . . it's making me real busy after school. You probably won't be able to hang out with me for a while, okay? Sorry, but I have to go now!"_

She told them that about a year ago, and ever since then she's remained true to her word. She _hadn't_ been able to spend time with them . . . at all. She could tell that they were becoming increasingly worried about her, and even her other classmates began noticing this. She was pretty sure Kaiba had noticed too because he made a smart-alleck remark about it one day:

_"Hey Mazaki! I want to congratulate you." He walked up to her while she was taking out her books in her locker, a smirk on his face._

_"Oh?" She didn't look at him, she already knew what his face looked like at that moment. "And why would the great Seto Kaiba want to do that?"_

_"You've finally wised up I see. You're no longer hanging around those incompetent idiots you call 'friends'." His voice was cold and teasing. "I really feel like I must reward you. It must have been hard trying to separate yourself from them considering all the friendship speeches you've given in the past. I must say, you really stepped up closer to my level. I'm - I guess I should say 'impressed'." He gave a mock applause._

_Anzu just listened to him, not really in the mood to argue with him. "Why, thank you Kaiba." He raised an eyebrow, that was not quite the response he was expecting. She closed her locker with a good slam and looked up at him, her eyes expressionless. "I'd say that I'm glad to know that you now don't think of me as being on the bottom of the school's social ladder but at the moment, I couldn't care any less that what I already do. I'm feeling emotionally drained right now . . . I've got something going on at home and it's taking up my time twenty- four seven..."_

_Kaiba narrowed his eyes and looked at her strangely. "What the hell are you talking about Mazaki?"_

_Anzu smirked emotionlessly, something she was becoming quite accustomed to, "Wouldn't you like to know? But I'm afraid that information is highly confidential." She started walking away toward the door; she voiced her thoughts aloud with a laugh, "Finally something you can't find out. I'm going to have to record this day. Too bad I don't have a camera." She exited the building, a discontented CEO in her wake.  
_

_He frowned as he walked out the door. __Something he couldn't find out, huh? Well, he'd find out sooner or later.__ His foot hit the concrete and expected to find Anzu ahead of him, but she was gone. "What the hell?" How could she disappear so fast? She was less than five seconds ahead of him! She shouldn't have been able to get off campus that quickly without him being able to see her. He looked around for a while before walking over to the limo that was waiting to take him to the next meeting he had to be at. Though instead of thinking about the content of that meeting, he could only concentrate on what Anzu said. "Just you wait Mazaki, I _will_ find out what you're doing." Not that he cared, but she out right said that he couldn't do something, and he was going to prove her wrong._

_Little did he know that the woman that had plagued his mind at the moment was following closely behind the limo on her bike, hidden within the shadows of the trees on the right side of the street, watching him. He would never know that what kept Anzu so busy was watching him and Mokuba, making sure that they weren't harmed. She smirked, "Good luck Kaiba. This is the first time you _will_ genuinely need it."_

Ever since then, she's watched Kaiba on his laptop at home looking up any files on her that could tell him what exactly it was that she was doing. And every time, it's failed him. It doesn't even occur to him to look up in his own files of employment to find her name. After all, technically speaking she was working for him. But then again, the KSPO files are practically invisible files on Kaiba's main frame. Gozaburo, when he was still operating Kaiba Corp., had put a special lock and key password on all the files of the KSPO and only he and the executive members of the organization know what it is. Now that Gozaburo is gone, that information is practically unobtainable. The members of the KSPO made sure that all files concerning their existence were confiscated before Kaiba took complete control of the corporation. They wanted to remain as discreet as possible, thus all their files were locked away into the headquarters of the KSPO, whose location still remains to be shrouded mystery.

She watched the gates to the estate open again for the second time that afternoon, the limo, this time, carrying Kaiba into the grounds. She smiled as she watched his closed eyes flutter open as he felt the car come to a complete stop. He didn't move until the car door was opened for him. He was tired, she could tell, but she knew he wouldn't stop working. She knew that once he got inside his brother would jump on him, as usual, greeting him before he stalked up the stairs to his office and sat down at his desk. He would pry for hours on end trying to figure out what Anzu was doing after school. She wanted to laugh, because he was just trying too hard. But then again, she couldn't blame him. After all, she practically did come out and tell him that even though he had access to everything in the world, he couldn't figure out what her after school activity was. However, she also felt sorry for him. He had enough work on his plate and the mystery of her job was not something he needed to distract him. She could tell it drove him up a wall, but she couldn't do anything to stop him now. The challenge was set and he wouldn't stop until he conquered it. Once again she sighed; sometimes he was just too stubborn and persistent for his own good.

Once she was sure he was safe and sound inside his home and everything read "normal" on her abnormal watch, she peddled away, needing to get home so she could file her report.

* * *

Three teenagers walked down the sidewalk, still dressed in their school uniforms, two of them towering over their short friend with the unnaturally tall, spiky hair. They conversed amongst themselves talking about school, homework, home life, games and the like. Apparently today's topic of interest was that of their friend's most recent birthday present.

"God Yug! You're so lucky!" exclaimed the tall blonde as put his hands behind his head.

"What? How do you figure that Jounouchi?" asked Yuugi. "How does getting a car for my birthday make me lucky?"

"Think about it," said a pencil headed brunette, otherwise more commonly known as Honda amongst the three. "You're the youngest, and might I add shortest, of all of us here and yet you get a new Honda Accord? A 2007 edition at that! Damn I wish I were in your shoes!"

Yuugi blushed lightly, "Well, it's not like I didn't earn it you know. I had to work hard in the game shop with Jii-chan before I was able to ask for it."

"Still, Yug, I can't believe gramps was able to pull that off! And you said he practically got it for nothing'!"

"Well, Jii-chan isn't exactly poor you know. He has saved up quite a bit because he's been looking forward to retirement." Yuugi laughed. "He keeps saying that he'll retire soon but we all know that he won't. He loves his job more than anything; something tells me that he isn't going to retire for quite a while."

Jounouchi laughed with his friend. "You're right Yug. Hey you know what we should do?" Yuugi and Honda looked at him. "We should take that car of yours out for a joy ride!"

Honda and Yuugi stared at him as if he were insane.

"What?"

"You're joking right Jounouchi?" asked Yuugi. "I don't even have my license yet! I can't take that car out on the street without a licensed driver in the passenger seat!"

"For once, I agree with Yuugi here Jounouchi." Yuugi and Jounouchi stared him, both in disbelief, but only one of them looked betrayed.

"Honda! Are you serious man?"

Honda shrugged at first, "Well yeah!" He smirked, "I mean, I don't want to _risk my life_ sitting in the same car as Yuugi." Honda winked at Jounouchi when Yuugi wasn't watching.

Yuugi flushed a little, "H-hey! It's not like I _can't_ drive! I have my permit . . . just not my license."

Jounouchi caught on and smirked. "Actually Yug, Honda's probably right. We may not look it, but we're pretty smart." Yuugi widened his eyes in shock. "Hey don't give me that look! I may not act it but I am quite the genus!"

Yuugi stifled a laugh, "I think you mean 'genius'."

Jounouchi shrugged, "That's what I said. Anyway, we're not dumb enough to actually get into the car with an unlicensed driver. We actually like our bodies in one piece!" Said Jounouchi, draping his arm over Yuugi's shoulders as Yuugi flushed again.

"Are you implying that I'd crash into something!" He said, offended.

"Hey, hey! Don't get offended Yuugi," said Honda, holding his hands up in the air in a surrender-like fashion. "We're not saying that at all. Just call us the next time you're driving so Jounouchi and I know to stay off the streets."

Yuugi's face was now red from embarrassment and slight anger. "Come on guys stop teasing me! I can drive just fine! I wouldn't hit anybody _or _anything!"

"I don't know about that Yug. You sure you can see over the dashboard?" Jounouchi poked.

"Yes! I can see just fine!" Yuugi began marching away, "Gee, and here I was going to show you my car too. Too bad, I guess you won't see it ever!" He stomped away, feigning anger at his friends.

"Hey c'mon Yug! Don't go away feeling like that!" Said Jounouchi, catching up with Yuugi and throwing his arms around his shoulders again. "We were just poking some fun at you. Right, Honda?"

Honda walked up as Jounouchi turned Yuugi around. "Yeah, that's what friends do when their friends get cars. It's kind of like, a tradition. That's what I did with my sister when she got her car and what she did when all of her friends got their cars."

"Oh really?" Yuugi asked indifferently. He wasn't really mad, only acting like it just to see how his friends would react or see if they would catch on. Apparently they didn't.

"Yeah! We'll do the same thing when you get your license. Almost like an obligation you know?" Jounouchi hesitated when he saw that his friend was still "mad" at them. "Ah c'mon Yug! Won't you forgive us! You know how we can get sometimes…."

Yuugi's frown slowly turned into a smile until he laughed out loud. "I'm not mad you guys, but I'm not a reckless driver. When I do get my license, which should be soon, I'll be sure to take you guys out on the road. Heck, we'll even go on a road trip! What do you think?"

Honda and Jounouchi punched the air shouting: "All right! Thanks Yug!"

Yuugi, Jounouchi, and Honda all laughed, but the laughter soon quieted. They stood in silence for a moment before Honda said: "So, uh, does anybody know how Anzu's been lately?"

An awkward silence then settled between them. They hadn't really spent time with Anzu in a year. She's been so busy at home after school that they hadn't been able to hang out, and even at school she was always disappearing at breaks and lunch before they could talk to her and reappearing before class started. They only saw her during class, but even then they couldn't talk to her. She ignored their notes and wouldn't even look at them. They figured that whatever she was doing at home must have taken up so much of her time that she hasn't even been able to tell them "Good morning" anymore. Yuugi sighed. "I really don't know. We haven't been able to talk with her for a long time."

"Yeah," replied Jounouchi. "Hey, you think that maybe she's free now? It's about 5:30 PM. Perhaps she's home doing whatever it is that she said she'd be doing?"

Honda said, "If that's true, then should we really bug her? After all she said that she's really busy at her house. I don't think we should disturb her if that's true."

Jounouchi argued. "But even if that's true, then shouldn't we go and see if we can help her? After all she's our friend and friends help friends out with their problems."

Yuugi nodded. "I agree with Jounouchi. Perhaps we should stop by her house and see what she's up to. I'm getting a little worried about her." Honda and Jounouchi smirked and Yuugi blinked once, twice. "What?"

"Aw c'mon Yug don't give us that. We know how much you're in love with Anzu!"

Yuugi blushed furiously. "What! I never said that!"

Honda spoke up, "You didn't have to say anything Yuugi; it's written all over your face."

Yuugi touched his face, even though he knew it was just a figure of speech. He found his face to be really warm to the touch. "Oh God… Am I _that_ obvious?" Jounouchi and Honda nodded simultaneously.

"Sadly yea." said Jounouchi. "I wouldn't be surprised if the whole school knows about it."

Yuugi felt faint, "You lie!"

Honda shrugged. "You never know. Word travels fast and as far as I'm concerned, the whole school would most likely know about it since we're in our senior year and you've liked her since before high school started."

Yuugi sighed feeling embarrassed and defeated, but mostly embarrassed. "Aw, crap. Please don't tell me that Anzu knows too!"

Jounouchi shook his head. "Not possible! That's the thing about girls. You have to tell them yourself how you feel. Otherwise they're just completely clueless!"

"Who's clueless?" asked an ominous voice behind Jounouchi.

Jounouchi jumped and tried pathetically to hide behind _Yuugi_. "GAH! Who are you?"

The person laughed, a female voice being heard, "Gee, have I really changed that much in a year guys?" She stepped out of the shadows. "It's only been a year, and you have seen me in classes."

The boys jumped for joy. "Anzu!"

Anzu laughed again, "That's my name, don't wear it out guys!"

Yuugi suddenly blushed furiously. "H-How long have you been standing there?"

Anzu smiled, "Only for a few seconds. I only heard Jounouchi saying that girls are completely clueless. To what, I don't know, but that's all I heard."

Yuugi sighed, relieved. "Oh, I see. All right then."

Anzu couldn't hide her smile. She knew what he was referring to, but wanted to let him relax. She knew how he felt about her, but she didn't feel the same way. In fact, since the Yami, or rather-Atem, left for the afterlife, where he was supposed to be, she hadn't really taken an interest in anyone. This was good thing though. Her involvement in KSPO took up all of her time she didn't have time to even consider pursuing a relationship with anyone. In some obscure parallel universe the only person that would qualify right now would be Kaiba. As true as that was though, there were two reasons why that wouldn't . . . couldn't work. One, she couldn't stand his arrogant, all-mighty attitude; two, it was against one of the KSPO rules. Why they would have a rule for that, she would never know, but they did. Not that it mattered to her. The chances were improbable.

She sighed mentally. _I cannot believe that actually popped into my head… forget Kaiba, _I'm _the one who's been working too hard! _She smiled to her friends. "So, what are you guys up to? Not causing any trouble I hope!"

Yuugi shook his head. "Not at all! We were just talking about you."

"Oh, really? Good things I hope." She narrowed her eyes at Jounouchi playfully.

Jounouchi raise his hands defensively, "Hey, easy tiger. We were just debating about whether we should pay you a visit at your house today."

Anzu's smile shrank slightly, but no one noticed. "Oh? And why would you want to do that?"

Jounouchi lowered his hands. "Well, it's just that we haven't seen you around for a while. We thought that if we saw you, we could help you with whatever you were doing. Right, Honda?"

Honda nodded. "Yeah! It's been such a long time since we've hung out together. A year practically! So, we thought that we should come see you." He looked at her dimmed smile, "Hopefully that wouldn't have bugged you, Anzu."

Anzu brightened her features. "Oh! You guys just care for me so much!" She grabbed them all into a tight embrace. "I love you guys, really! But this is a job. And my job is something only _I _can do and no one else. It's my responsibility after all." She let them go. "I appreciate the offer, but it's a quite a tedious and complex job." _Only if baby-sitting is complex that is…_ "Besides . . ." she thought up of a quick excuse, "I don't get the best pay, hence the long hours."

Jounouchi went red. "What! You not getting paid like you should? Those cheapskates!" He raised his fist into the air and was about to slam it blindly down to the ground.

Unfortunately, Yuugi was in the way of the blow. He screamed, just before Honda stepped in. "Yo! Jounouchi! Calm down. Look, she never said that she's not getting what she deserves! She could just probably be getting minimum wage because she's still new there you know? It's not like she's not getting screwed over!"

_Actually "screwed over" is pretty accurate Honda. _Anzu bit back a bitter laugh. That would only make them suspicious.

Yuugi sighed, relieved to know that he wasn't about to get pounded into the ground, whether it be on accident or not. He looked over at Anzu's melancholy expression. "Say Anzu? Are you all right? "

Anzu's eyes widened a little and her smile faded. "Hm? Oh I'm fine Yuugi, just thinking about something. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I don't know… You just looked a little sad right now." He said, genuinely concerned about her.

Anzu feigned a bright smile. "Really? I'm sorry, I didn't notice." A shrill beep went off, causing Anzu to look down at her watch. "Oh no, I'm late for an appointment!" She turned to leave. "I'll see you guys later okay?" She was just about to head off before stopping and turning to look at them. "Oh wait, I almost forgot!" She reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out a card and small box wrapped in decorative paper and bow. She handed them both to Yuugi. "I'm sorry, I couldn't stay longer. But don't you ever dare say that Anzu Mazaki forgot her best friend's birthday!" She winked at him as he blushed.

"Th-thanks Anzu." He said as he bashfully took the gift from her.

She hugged him. "Any time." Jounouchi and Honda smirked at each other "knowingly" before Anzu stood up. "All right. I've got to go now. Hopefully we'll be able to hang out soon. But until then, I'll see you guys around!" With that, she ran off in the direction in which they came from and disappeared into the crowd.

Jounouchi looked after and said, "What's with her?"

Honda shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's got something to do with that 'job' of hers."

Jounouchi frowned. "Well, I don' like this _job_ of hers. I'm absolutely _positive_ that it ain't paying her well."

Yuugi rolled his eyes. "Jounouchi, remember the _last _time you got suspicious of Anzu? We followed her all the way to Burger World and she was really pissed at us afterwards."

Jounouchi shifted uncomfortably at the memory. "Y-yeah. I remember. I thought for sure she was going to kill me!" He remembered her message that she scrawled in ketchup, which had oddly taken a similar look to that of blood at the time. Still did to him today.

Honda raised an eyebrow. "Something I should know about Jounouchi?"

Jounouchi shook his head while Yuugi went on to explain what happened. "Jounouchi got suspicious of Anzu one day because she was always just leaving right after school and not even talking to us before then. So he decided to follow her and started coming up with all of these crazy ideas of what she could be doing. Something about having a 'suga daddy'." Yuugi shook his head at the incredulous idea; Honda's eyes were wide. Anzu with a suga daddy? He never would have thought of her to be the type of girl! "Well, turns out that Anzu was actually going over to Burger World every day after school because she had a job there as a waitress. But when Jounouchi and I found out, she got mad at us and threatened Jounouchi." Yuugi did his best to stifle his laughter, but failed miserably. "You should have _seen_ the look on his face! He thought that she was actually going to kill him if he didn't stay quiet about it."

Honda laughed. "Well I wouldn't have put it past her. So why did she quit?"

Yuugi's laughter died instantly as he cast his eyes down to the ground. "Well, on the day that Jounouchi and I were there, a fugitive from the prison that's near here broke out and made his way to the restaurant. He took Anzu hostage at gun point."

Honda's eyes widened again. "WHAT? That's horrible! How did she escape?"

Yuugi smirked a little bit. "Well, when he ordered some things, he told me to get them and, somehow, Anzu knew it was me that he picked. He slapped her and I got mad. The next thing I know, I wake up at the table wondering what had happened. But now that I look back on it, I remember Atem taking over and he saved Anzu."

Honda smiled. "Ah, I see. And was that our little Anzu's first encounter with the mysterious pharaoh of old?"

Yuugi laughed. "Yeah, I guess. But if so, then I must say he must have left _quite_ the impression on her."

Honda's and Jounouchi's eyes widened. Did their friend know about Anzu's past crush on his darker half? "What makes you say that Yug?"

"Well, it's just after that I noticed a change in her attitude. She seemed a little sad and distracted at times. When I asked her what was wrong she said that she never got a chance to thank or to meet the person who had saved her from the crook." Yuugi smiled. "But after she learned who he really was, she was happy again!" Yuugi exclaimed innocently.

The two teens sighed in relief. So they had nothing to worry about. They couldn't imagine how crushed their friend would be if he found out that Anzu had admired his other half.

Yuugi noticed their sighs. "Is there something wrong guys?'

Honda and Jounouchi exchanged a glance, musing over a quick excuse. "Er-…we'll we were just… worried about… Anzu…" Honda pieced together.

Jounouchi immediately jumped on the bandwagon. "Yeah! Why don't we go see if we can help out her or something?"

Yuugi cocked an eyebrow this time. "What? Why? She just told us not too long ago that we couldn't help her with her job."

Jounouchi jumped in. "Well, even though she said that, why don't we just try and help her anyway? I mean, what's the worst that could happen, huh?"

Yuugi sighed. "I don't know Jounouchi. I mean, even Anzu said that is _her_ responsibility. Think about it. If her parents couldn't even help her out, what makes you think that _we_ can?"

Jounouchi gulped but didn't back down. "Well, she never said that we couldn't know what her job _is_."

Yuugi didn't like where this was going. "Jounouchi. Stop and think for a minute. If Anzu didn't want us helping her out and hasn't told us _what_ she's doing for her job, then don't you think we should respect her privacy and leave her alone? After all, it's her life and choice . . . not ours. Or do you want her to threaten you again?"

Jounouchi gulped while Honda snickered. "…Even still! As her friend and brother-figure, I have a right to know what it is she's doing!" Jounouchi stood with a determined look on his face. Something inside Yuugi dropped into the pit of his stomach; he knew _exactly _what was coming next. "That's it! We're tailing Anzu to see where she's going and what she's doing!"

Yuugi sighed. "I _knew_ you were going to say that. Honda a little help here?"

Unfortunately for Yuugi, Honda was on the same page as Jounouchi. "I'm sorry Yug, but I'm with Jounouchi on this. As her friends we _do_ have a right to know what she's doing after school. Besides, at least we would stop worrying about her if we do find out? Right, Yuugi?"

Yuugi stuttered. "Well, yeah but . . . it's just not right. Anzu has a right to her secrets as do we all."

Jounouchi continued to argue. "But if those secrets are beginning to worry your friends, you'd want to let them know what was up wouldn't you, Yug?" Yuugi nodded slowly and unsurely. "Thus, we have a right to know what Anzu's doing. And if she refuses to tell us on her own, then we'll just find out on our own!"

Honda nodded in agreement. "Jounouchi's right, Yuugi! I'm not going to rest easy until I know what Anzu is up to! I'm in with ya bud!"

Jounouchi and Honda high-fived each other, "All right!" They looked at Yuugi. "Well, Yug, you're either with us or against us. But I should warn you NOT to tell Anzu about this! Otherwise, you're going to regret it!" Both of them glared threateningly at their short friend.

Yuugi gulped. Even though they were best friends now, Honda and Jounouchi weren't afraid to beat him up if they didn't want him revealing secrets. _Honestly, sometimes I think that with friends like these two, who needs enemies?_ Yuugi sighed dejectedly. "I-I guess I'm in guys."

Jounouchi rejoiced. "All right! Now we're all a part of the 'D.A.S.B.'!"

Honda and Yuugi stared at him. "The what?"

"The 'Discover Anzu's Secret Brigade', of course! What did you think I meant?" He asked with a lifted eyebrow, as if the abbreviation was common knowledge.

Yuugi shook his head. "Absolutely nothing Jounouchi... You don't have to give _everything_ a title."

"I know that! It's just more fun if I do." He grinned broadly.

Honda shrugged. "Right, well, as the newly self-appointed leader of the … 'D.A.S.B'... I say we start tailing Anzu on Monday."

Jounouchi nodded in agreement. "Right! Wait a minute. Why are _you_ the leader? I'm the one that came up with the idea!"

"Right, but if you were the leader you would have wanted to tail Anzu now. Am I right?"

"Of course!" He exclaimed hotly. Why else would he have made such a declaration?

"Well then that would have been a problem, considering the fact that we have NO idea where she went since she left about fifteen minutes ago." Honda smirked. Jounouchi may be his best friend, but he wasn't always the brightest bulb in the bunch.

Jounouchi paused. "What?" He looked around. "Oh right. I forgot. Heh, heh."

Honda rolled his eyes. Point made. "So let's start Monday after school. Right?"

Jounouchi nodded while Yuugi reluctantly agreed. With that decided and agreed upon, the threesome headed off in the direction they were going before . . . destination? Wherever it was they were headed before. "So . . . did you guys hear about the serial killer that was mentioned on the news? They say he's . . ." Their voices faded off into the distance, discussing the appearance of the serial killer and the fact that he's out to get girls around the age of eighteen with blue eyes.

* * *

Little did they know that a shadow with brown hair and azure eyes were listening to every word they were saying. "So they want to learn do they? Well, they'll learn something, all right."

* * *

Okay people, it's time to let me know what you think of this so far. This story is moving along quite quickly for me . . . it's becoming easier to write things for my plot! I really do hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am. I'm NEVER ecstatic about a story, so for me to be actually happy about this makes it feel worthwhile for me! I would greatly appreciate your reviews, but if you don't, then I just hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Cangel41790


	3. Secrets and Disappearing Acts

_Thoughts/ Flashbacks_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the character used to bring my plot to life (save for the names of Anzu's parents)

**Secrets and Disappearing Acts**

* * *

Anzu walked through the halls of her school to her homeroom. A frown graced her features as she dragged her feet upon the tile floor while students raced by her. She rounded the corner and continued walking slowly to her classroom that was about ten feet in front of her. She looked up at the classroom number dazedly and sighed. Today was not going to be a good day for her; she knew it. She walked into the classroom, the aura surrounding her completely gloomy. Everyone in the classroom seemed to notice, except for the one and only Seto Kaiba, whom sat in the back of the class, his nose stuck in a book.

Anzu trudged over to her desk and dropped her backpack beside her on the ground before sinking her head into her arms on the desk. _Why?_ She thought. _Why? Why does it have to be her? Why not someone else? Somebody who doesn't _have_ a family to care for…. Who doesn't have a daughter and husband to look after…Why does it have to be _my _mother?_ She wanted to scream! This just wasn't fair! Something had to be done about it, but she knew that the situation was out of her control. She wept silently as she cursed the people responsible for making her feel so bad._ Damn the KSPO! Breaking up families…._

Memories from Saturday afternoon played back in her head. After she had left Yuugi and everyone she went home to file her usual report on the status of the Kaiba brothers. However, when she got home, her parents had some unfortunate news . . . again. When she had gone into the kitchen, she discovered her parents to be engulfed in a deep conversation; so much to the point that they didn't even notice her walk into the room. She was going to announce her presence with a simple: _"Tadaima"_, but then she saw a letter . . . an all too familiar seal on the back of the stationary. She had grimaced, knowing that there must have been a life changing command sent to her parents in order for them to be so involved in the discussion for them to not even notice her. So she decided to ask:

_"Dear Lord . . . what do they want now?" asked Anzu as she stepped into the kitchen and approached her parents that were sitting at the table._

_They weren't even surprised to see her walk in or announce herself the way she did. Instead of a sarcastic "Okaeri" like they would usually offer, they simply said. "Something… irreplaceable." Said Ani._

_Konami put his hand on his wife's and squeezed it tightly. "More like some_one_."_

_The action and double meaning did not go undiscovered by Anzu. Her eyes widened as she asked. "What would they need with mom?"_

_Ani sighed and began explaining. "They need me at headquarters in order to help them gather intelligence on the 'G5 Escape' rumor."_

_Anzu didn't quite understand. "All right. But _why_ do they need you? I mean, don't they have enough agents to help them gather that kind of information, already? Why do they need you?"_

_"I have a particular expertise in gathering intelligence. They need me to obtain all of the information that I can... It seems that they believe I will be able to do it better with the resources at H.Q. than here…"Ani's shoulders shrank slightly, a heavy burden resting on her neck._

_Anzu dropped her bags on the floor and ran to her mother, throwing herself at her feet and embracing her in her chair. "No! They can't take you away! That's not right!"_

_Ani sighed. "I don't want to leave either, believe me sweetheart! But I have to! I have no other choice!" Tears formed in Anzu's eyes. "You know their rules." She said gently._

_"I know! I _do_ know their rules! That's why I don't want you to go! Who knows when I'll be able to see you again!" She buried her face into her mother's shoulder and sobbed. "Couldn't they just settle for someone else? Someone who doesn't _have_ a family?"_

_Ani had wrapped her arms around her daughter the minute she ran to her and was now caressing her hair. "I wish that there was someone like that out there. But, unfortunately, I'm the only person they know who has this expertise."_

_Anzu just cried. "It's not fair! IT'S NOT FAIR! You might as well be dying! I don't know if I'll ever see you again mom! You can't leave when you go to HQ! They won't let you leave!"_

_Ani shuddered slightly as tears formed in her eyes as the thought of never seeing her family again came into her mind. "I-I know dear. I know. But just think, once this whole ordeal is done, we'll be able to live wherever we want to after this." She said, wanting to keep hope alive in her only daughter. "We will see each other again."_

_Anzu just cried. She didn't want to lose her mom. She already lost her dream, but to lose her mother as well? It's not fair! She clutched her tighter. "Please mom! Don't go! Please!"_

_Konami, who had been watching the whole scene unfold before him, decided to step in. "Now Anzu, be reasonable. You know that she has no control over this-"_

_Anzu turned on her dad, anger swirling in her eyes. "Dad listen to yourself! Don't you want mom to stay? Do you WANT her to go?"_

_Konami clenched his fists as frustrated tears burned his eyes. "Of course I want your mother to stay. You have no idea how much I wish she could just stay here…. But, you must realize that if HQ had to order her there, then they MUST be in trouble. It's not exactly something for us to take lightly. They have some of the best resources and most capable minds already, so if those are failing then then just imagine how much trouble is brewing!"_

_Anzu stifled her sniffing and calmed down, thinking about what her father had just said. After taking in a deep breath she mumbled, "Y-you're probably right. But I can't be okay with this… I don't want her to leave." She was holding her mom's hand now._

_Ani squeezed her daughter's hand and said, "I don't want to leave either dear. But I have to. I have no choice."_

_Anzu didn't say anything; she knew she was right. She didn't have a choice in the matter. The KSPO could be in-humane sometimes. Anzu wouldn't have liked nothing more than to spit in their faces, but she never had the chance. If she ever got the chance, she would do that and so much more… But until then, she _had_ to obey their orders. "A-all right." She said slowly, reluctantly accepting the situation. "So, how are you going to disappear?" _

_Ani and Konami looked at each other. "Well, we were talking about that when you came in." Ani sighed. "It's not going to be easy, but now I know what we're going to have to do. How exactly we're going to do this, I don't know, but it's the simplest, though most dangerous, thing we could think of. No one would expect me to be alive after this."_

_Anzu's eyes widened automatically. "Alive? What are you planning?"_

_"I-I'm going to fake my own death." Anzu ceased breathing. "I'm going to crash my car. I don't know how or where, but that's what I'm going to have to do. It's going to be dangerous, but I've had practice during training on how to fake my own death. You've probably had to do that as well when you underwent your training… This way I'll be able to completely erase my presence from the town."_

_Anzu hesitated. "Put what if your plan backfires and you actually end up dying?"_

_Ani smiled gently. "That won't happen dear. I promise. I won't allow myself to die! I have a family to return to after this whole ordeal is over."_

_Anzu felt her heart quiver in her chest. She was becoming more nervous than she would have liked. "But mom-" Ani held up her hand to stop her objections. _

_Konami then stepped up and wrapped his arms around his daughter. "Listen Anzu, I'm nervous about this whole thing too. But trust me, your mother is telling the truth. She wouldn't let herself die, not when she's made a promise to us. Think about it: when was the last time she broke a promise to you or me?"_

_Anzu didn't have to think on that statement. "Never. She never has." She wrapped her arms around her dad's shoulders and cried into his supporting arms. Konami couldn't help but let a few of his dammed tears fall from his eyes as well. Ani felt her heart breaking. She didn't want to leave, but she had no choice. She cried and hugged her daughter, who in turn, hugged her back and Konami wrapped his arms around both of them. This was hard on all of them . . . it felt like their family was breaking up, and they no control over it what-so-ever._

A few tears traveled down the side of her face. She really hated KSPO right now, and nothing would change that feeling unless they decided to change their policies. _Only when Hell freezes over…_ Thought Anzu bitterly.

Slowly and unsurely, she heard some feet shuffle over to her side. She didn't need to look up to see who it was. "What do you guys want?"

The three boys froze, the atmosphere around her making them uneasy. "Um . . . Anzu?"

Anzu, still didn't look up. "What is it Yuugi?" Her voice was glum, but was steadily changing for a lighter tone.

"We just wanted to know if you were all right." He said worriedly. He didn't enjoy seeing the girl he admired so much like this.

"Yeah, you came into class with such a depressed look on your face. It made everyone stop talking." Said Honda. "You're never like this."

"Yeah. We just wanted to know if anything was bothering you." Jounouchi sat in the empty desk in front of her. He folded his arms over the back of the chair, his brown eyes gazing at her depressed face.

Anzu couldn't help but laugh a little. Wouldn't she give to spill her guts to them, but she couldn't. That would seal their lives to the dreadful KSPO like she was. "Nah, I'm fine guys." She looked up at them and gave them her best reassuring smile. She didn't want them to worry about her. "It's just one of those times . . . you know?"

Yuugi, Jounouchi, and Honda took a few moments to understand what she was referring to. The light seemed to click on for all three of them at the same time, for they nodded uncomfortably. They better not make her mad today. "Ah, is that all?" asked Honda.

Anzu sighed and nodded, glad they bought it. Finally, that dreaded time of the month came in handy for _something_. It just saved her from a whole slew of questions she was more than happy to avoid. "Yep. Just don't say anything that will get me upset today all right? 'Cause I don't think you'll enjoy the outcome very much." She laughed and after a little while they laughed with her. However, in the back of their minds they were shaking in their shoes. They remembered the _last time_ she was going through that and they had gotten her angry. They gulped in fear and shuddered. They _never_ want to go through that again.

Anzu noticed their sudden silence and smirked, well aware of their thoughts. They learned that lesson the hard way.

Well, as much as she enjoyed their silent reminiscing, she decided to bring up another topic of conversation. "Oh! By the way! What did you guys do on Saturday after I left you? Did you enjoy your birthday, Yuugi? Did you like the present I got you? Did you want something else? I'm sorry, but I didn't have enough money to get you much so I did the best I could-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there Anzu slow down!" Yuugi laughed at her sudden tidal wave of questions. "One: nothing much, we just walked around the shopping center and talked about random things. Two: yes I did. Three: Yes, I loved it! And four: no, anything you would have given me would have been fine." He blushed a little remembering her card. "The card was also very beautiful. You have a way with words Anzu."

Anzu smiled at this, "Why thank you Yuugi. I made that card myself. So I hoped you would have liked it."

Yuugi smiled, "Yeah, I loved it. You're so kind."

Jounouchi and Honda looked at each other, wondering what the card had said. They had asked what Anzu said in her card, but Yuugi kept changing the topic whenever they asked. They still wanted to know, but decided to ask about it later. Right now they just wanted to talk to Anzu about her mysterious job.

"So . . . Anzu. How's everything going at that job of yours?" asked Honda.

Anzu looked up at them, wondering where that had come from. "Uh . . . fine. Why do you ask?"

Jounouchi shrugged with Honda as he said, "Oh, no reason. It's just that we've been worried about you lately and since your job is the thing that takes up most of your time, we just figured that you wouldn't mind giving us some in-sight on what exactly it was that you do?"

Anzu sighed mentally and frowned visibly. "Why would you want to know what I do? You're not expecting to help with it are you?"

Honda looked away while Jounouchi stepped in. "Nah, of course not! You told us not to remember? We just wanted to know what's got you so busy! We're your friends. _Best_ friends might I add. What could keep you so busy that you even can't tell us?"

Anzu smirked. "You would like to know, wouldn't you?" The two teens nodded. "Well, that's not going to happen."

Jounouchi wanted to explode. "What? Why not!"

Anzu looked away from him, "Because," she glared icily at Jounouchi out of the corner of her eyes, watching him gulp, "why should I tell you? Why can't you just accept the fact that I don't want you involved _at all_? Why not just respect what I want?"

Jounouchi looked at her, completely dumbfounded. "What the hell Anzu! What can't you just tell us?"

Honda shouted as well. "We're just worried about you!"

Anzu slammed her hands on her desk and glared at them coldly. "And if I told you, what were that prove? That you can't respect a good friend's wish for some privacy?" Her glare seemed to harden as she spoke. "Did you ever think that maybe, just _maybe_, I haven't told you for your own good? Did you ever consider _that_?"A growl emphasized her words.

Honda gulped and Yuugi cowered while Jounouchi narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean by that?" He emphasized.

Anzu, then, just smiled and said, "Now if I told you that, you'd never leave me alone. So please, do just that." With that, she slumped back into her chair and buried her face in her arms, signaling the end of the discussion.

Jounouchi wasn't ready to give up but Honda just placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and shook his head. This was NOT the day to mess with Anzu. "Uh . . . right." Said Yuugi, breaking up the awkward silence that was threatening to make its self known. "You know what, class is going to start soon. Why don't we just go back to our seats, huh guys?"

Jounouchi just looked at Anzu, quite hurt by her harsh words. "Fine." He thrust his hands into his pockets and headed back to his seat.

Honda lingered for a while, staring at Anzu. Something was definitely off with her. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and squeezed it in a reassuring fashion. She looked up at him, the glare still coloring her eyes an icy blue. He withdrew his hand quickly, as if ice had just burned his fingers, and went back to his seat; a heavy sigh in his wake.

She closed her eyes and resettled her head back into her arms. She just wanted to be left alone for the day. She felt a pair of eyes on her. She looked in the direction of where they were coming from and saw Kaiba smirking slightly. She narrowed her eyes, glaring at him almost hatefully. She wanted to fault him for everything happening with her family, but that wouldn't have been right. It's not _his_ fault that the stupid organization existed. She sighed dejectedly, dropping her guard and giving him a soft look with her eyes, tears shining in them now. She watched as his smirk faded into a frown before turning back into her arms, refusing to let the tears fall.

Kaiba looked on as Anzu buried her face into her arms on the desk again. He noticed her eyes melt from the evil glare to a lost, almost painful expression. He recognized those feelings; at one point he would have been able to empathize with them. He frowned; he had locked those feelings away a long time ago. What did he care about how she felt? Her life didn't concern him and vice versa.

His eyes passed over again and noticed that her shoulders seemed to be shaking; if he didn't have an eye for detail he would have missed it. She was crying, but she was trying not to. He merely went back to his reading, deciding that he spent too much time dedicated to her as it was.

* * *

Throughout that whole day, Anzu remained quiet and distant. She didn't listen when the teacher called on her or when she was asked for help by another student. She just sat in her desk, staring off into space. When lunch rolled around she didn't go out to the cafeteria with her friends; she sat alone in the classroom, granted that Kaiba was still in the room, typing on his laptop. Both of them kept to themselves.

Kaiba looked up from his work every now and then to look at her and every time he did, she was in the same position: leaning on her desk, her hand supporting her head as her cheek rested in her palm. He didn't know whether her eyes were open or close, but he did notice her heavy breathing, which in turn he assumed that she was sleeping at the moment.

However her "sleeping" was nothing more than a contemplative state of the memories she had of when she and her family spent the entire day having fun on Sunday, of course they never stopped "Kaiba-sitting". After the whole "Deportation" order that came from KSPO to her mom, the Mazaki family decided that they should all have fun together before they "lost" a member of their family. During that time they went to a small amusement park; there weren't very many rides, but the ones that were there were a blast! They went on every rollercoaster, played games at the mini-arcade, and ate a decent lunch. After the amusement park, they went to the mall where they went on a shopping spree. Well . . . at least her mother and herself did, her father, like any other man, was stuck carrying the bags. They bought a bunch of stuff for Anzu, not really for themselves because one: her father didn't need nor want anything and two: her mother wouldn't need anything for a _long_ time.

Kaiba leaned back in his desk and allowed his eyes to rest from the LCD screen he had been fixed on since before lunch began. He sighed, knowing he should continue, but decided against it. He massaged the bridge of his nose, feeling a slight headache coming. Lately Mokuba had been warning him of staring at the computer screen for too long could damage his eyes and brain. His brain, he seriously doubted, however his eyes were a different story. He couldn't have anything obscure his vision, it just wouldn't do. With that thought, he closed his laptop and put it back into his briefcase. He could finish the work whenever he got home. He was about to pull out his book and continue his reading but his focus would be considerably distracted by Anzu's presence. Instead, he decided to busy himself with his so-called "homework" so he could have some of exercise for his mind.

The pencil scratched against the paper on the desk, the sound quite irritating to ears that were used to the taping of a keyboard. He felt that headache coming on again; with a groan he massaged the bridge his nose again.

The agitated noise brought Anzu back out of reverie. Her head fell out of her hold as she looked behind her to see Kaiba sitting at his desk, writing. "Kaiba? You're still here?" She knew it was her job to watch him, but she thought he might have left to stretch his legs. Judging from his relaxed position he hasn't moved from his seat for quite some time.

He rolled his eyes. "Unlike some people Mazaki, I have a job to do. I can't afford to waste a single moment of my time by doing nothing. Of course, I could ask you the same question. You're usually off with that goof troop you always hang out with. Why the sudden change of heart?"

Anzu shrugged her shoulders carelessly, shaking her head; "What a surprise..." She saw him lift an eyebrow and she continued: "Well with all the work that you do I'm surprised you find time to even notice anything going outside of your 'perfect' world of corporate business."

Kaiba smirked, "Only an incompetent moron with no business knowledge would call the corporate world 'perfect'."

"And only someone with a short attention span would stick his nose in someone else's free time," she handed back at him.

A frown replaced the smirk. "Don't flatter yourself Mazaki. You're barely worth the time it would take to investigate what you do in your spare time. Any mentally challenged person would know that you spend all of your time with those losers you call friends."

Anzu felt a twinge of agitation within her start. "Well then, oh mentally challenged one, take your nose out of my life and back into your _imperfect_ corporate world."

Kaiba merely snorted. "It wouldn't have been interrupted if you hadn't opened that unpleasantness you call a mouth."

She really didn't want to deal with him and his attitude. "What is your problem?" she demanded, annoyance making itself known in the back of her throat.

Kaiba smirked and retorted, "I'm pretty sure that it would have been obvious." She looked at him strangely, "Your presence is more than enough to irritate me, but your voice is even more annoying."

She frowned, clenching her teeth behind her closed lips. She took deep breaths, calming her rushing blood stream. She was quickly reaching her boiling point. She couldn't allow herself to be upset by him. It would only make this day more difficult than what it was. "Look Kaiba, I don't want to keep arguing with you so please, couldn't you, for once in your life, do the humane thing and shut up?"

Kaiba snorted again. "How about you do the humane thing for once in your pathetic life and get one?"

That comment was pushed her to her short limit. Before he could blink Anzu had moved at lightning speed from her desk to his. She was leaning on his desk, her hands turning pale from the pressure of her weight, a glare in her eyes.

"You really need to learn when to shut up." She closed the gap between their faces until their noses were touching. "I am so stressed out right now. Maybe I don't run a company, maybe I don't have a younger brother to take care, maybe I'm not you… but I have concerns and stress in my life that you have no _knowledge_ of!" She felt her hands twitch, "And if you did have any clue of what has been going on with me for the past year you would eat those words of yours. You have no idea how much I would just love to 'get a life' of my own, but because of **_you_**," she growled out the word until it was dust, "that's not possible in this universe." She whispered furiously.

Kaiba wasn't accustomed to being this close with a girl. There was something suffocating about her proximity and anger, and it was making him agitated. She was far too close for comfort. He stood as he sucked in a ragged breath before finding his voice, however it came out in a raspy, coarse tone. He pushed her away from him,"Get away from me Mazaki!"

However she dodged the motion and shoved herself closer to him, rising onto her toes. "No! I will not!" she whispered harshly, acknowledging the fact that he was close enough to hear her without her having to raise her voice. Her eyes were focused on his, ignoring everything else around her. She had something to say and he was going to listen, even if she had to be this close to him. He _was_ going to listen. She grabbed his face and held it gently, yet firmly, wanting to make sure that she kept his attention on her. "Listen to me Kaiba," her voice held on to the growl in the back of her throat, "I have been through hell the past year of my life. I watched as things I hold dear have been stripped away from me and now even those whom I love dearly are being taken away from me. And I have no control over it!" Tears welded up in her eyes: anger and vulnerability letting themselves fall freely out of her eyes, "You tell me to get a life; yet the life that I do have is being stolen from me!" the tears fell one by one down her face, her pain and frustration leaking out with every drop. She leaned against him, clinging to his shirt.

Kaiba felt her tears being absorbed into his jacket. He didn't speak nor move, he only listened and watched. He watched the frustration in her life wring itself out in her tears. There was that all too familiar pain again.

He just stood there, looking down at her as she sobbed. He took a hold of her hands on shirt and pried them off and pushed her away. "Mazaki get a hold of yourself," he said as gently as he could with a harsh tone, "you look more pathetic crying than when you normally do." Anzu just looked up at him, the anger and pain still in her eyes. Nothing was said between them after that. Her sob subsided as she dried her eyes. With red, swollen eyes, she glared up at him again.

"Kaiba, a little advice; if you ever decide to find a wife for the sake of producing an heir, learn a little gentility." With that, she left for the bathroom to wash her face clean from her tear stains.

Kaiba just stood there, unfazed by her comment. He simply sat down and went back to the homework he was previously working on.

* * *

Nearing the end of her final class period, Anzu leaned on her hands on her desk, her eyes closed as she wandered the dark caverns of her mind. As she walked, memories of what her family used to be like before she had joined the KSPO were rushing past her. Memories of her and her mother. She smiled contently and sadly as she watched her younger self playing with her mother in the park on a sunny day.

_A ten year old Anzu ran around the park as her mother chased after her. "I'm going to get you Anzu!"_

_Her child-like laughter filled the air. "No you won't! You can't catch me!" But just as she said that, she tripped and fell onto the cement, scrapping her knees._

_"Anzu!" her mother called worriedly. "Anzu dear are you all right?" She ran over to her daughter's side._

_Anzu sat up with the help of her mom, she sniffed, tears rolling around in her eyes as she looked at her knees. They were scrapped pretty badly since she was running fast and fell pretty hard. However, despite the pain, she managed to put on a reassuring smile and said, "I'm fine mommy. Don't worry about me!"_

_Anzu's mom frowned a little and took her daughter into her arms. "You don't have to be so brave when you have someone to help you, Anzu. I'm right here to help you; don't act like it doesn't hurt for my sake. If it hurts, just cry. It's not good to hold things in."_

_"But mommy-" she sniffed._

_"No 'buts' dear Anzu. I'm here to support you. You don't have to be brave right now. Not as long as I'm here." She smiled kindly down at her daughter. "Don't be brave for my sake. Everyone's weak once in a while and sometimes the help of another is important when that person doesn't know how to take care of themselves. Do you understand?"_

_Anzu slowly shook her head, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, but she held them back. "Not really."_

_Her mother smiled again. "That's all right. You'll understand when you're older and are put into that kind of situation. But until then, I'm here. If your knees hurt enough to the point you want to cry, then cry. As long as I'm with you, cry as much as you need to. That's why I'm here."_

_Anzu nodded once before burying her tiny head into her mom's bosom, crying because of the pain in her knees. She sobbed quietly for a few moments as her mother caressed her hair, soothing away her pain. When she had calmed down, she looked up at her mom, her big eyes shining. "Mommy?"_

_"Yes sweetie?"_

_"Will you always be here for me?" _

_Her mother smiled. "I can't promise that I'll always be by your side visibly Anzu. But I can promise that as long as you think about me, I'll never be far from you."_

_Anzu had cocked her head to the side. "I don't get it mommy."_

_Her mother's smile never faded. "I don't expect you to my dear. Just know that I'll be by your side for as long as I possibly can, all right?"_

_Anzu nodded and smiled again. "I love you so much Mommy!" She hugged her mother again._

_Anzu's mom returned the gesture. "I love you too my little peach! Always know that!"_

Anzu sighed as the memory faded away into darkness. It was then that she assumed that her mother would always be by her side, smiling at her in that caring and loving way she looked at her. An unnoticed tear slid down the side of her right cheek once again. That memory, though it filled her with joy, broke her heart. Her mother was being taken away from her. She was being forced to break her promise to her. And _that_ did not sit right with Anzu. She opened her eyes, a determined look in them. When this was all over, she didn't care if it cost her life, she _will_ get that damned organization to change their ways!

Anzu's noble self-declaration was cut short by the end of the school bell. Students rushed out of the classroom, leaving behind a cloud of dust before she could stand up, grab her things, and leave. She sighed, _well, might as well be prepared for what's coming . . ._

She walked down to her locker, grabbed her books, and then went down to the shoe locker to change of out of her school shoes into her day shoes before leaving the campus. Kaiba had already gotten into his car and she came out just as the limo began driving away. She walked over to her bike, which was now sitting in the bike cage and was locked in. She unlocked the chain that she had around it and began pedaling off once she was on the street. Known to her, three boys followed behind her at a distance, trying pathetically to hid their presence from her. _I thought that they would at least listen to me . . . but I guess not._ She sighed, she didn't want to do this but she had to.

Jounouchi, Yuugi, and Honda followed behind Anzu "secretly". They didn't pay any attention to the warning and threat that she had given them earlier today in class. They were just too worried, albeit curious, about her and this _job_ of hers. If it was so important for it to be kept a secret, then whatever she was doing was made it out to be very suspicious in Jounouchi's mind. And that stubborn boy will not let anything go until he satisfies his curiosity. _If Anzu were to find out that we were tailing her, we'd be dead men!_ thought Jounouchi. Of course, Honda and Yuugi's thoughts were slightly altered from "we" to "Jounouchi". If, and most likely when, Anzu found out about Jounouchi's bright idea to spy on her again then whoever had invented: "Curiosity killed the cat . . . but for a while I was the suspect" should change it too "Curiosity killed Jounouchi . . . but her real name is Anzu Mazaki".

They followed Anzu all the way to the busiest intersection of Domino City. She sat on her bike at the crosswalk that was opposite the side the guardrail was on. Even though they were a pretty good distance from her, Yuugi could still make out the expression on her face. She was not happy that's for sure. In fact, she seemed almost . . . sad. Yuugi tipped his head to the left. _Why would she be sad?_ Then he remembered their conversation earlier today. _She said that it was _that_ time, so her hormones must be acting up._ Yuugi deduced. But still, something didn't sit right with him. _Something must be on her mind. She's been distracted all day. _

Anzu glanced quickly out of the left corner of her eye and saw Yuugi, Jounouchi, and Honda "hiding" behind the corner to the bakery shop. She sighed. _It's almost time . . . _She thought with despair. As if to confirm her suspicions, she glanced down at her watch and saw the time read 3:05 PM. A tear escaped the far corner of her right eye. She knew what was coming.

After their fun day on Sunday, the Mazaki family sat down and began planning ways to make Ani disappear. They all agreed that a car crash was most definitely the most effective way to cover up Ani's tracks and make everyone believe she was dead. The thought alone made everyone shiver, but they went through with the planning despite. After about a half hour of coming up with ideas and getting nowhere fast, Anzu thought up an idea. And, she knew how she could have witnesses as well.

_

* * *

_

_Ani and Konami looked at her. "Really? How?"_

_Anzu inhaled and began. "All right, well, yesterday, before I came home, I ran into Yuugi and the guys. They began asking how I've been and how my 'job' has been going. I didn't give them a straight answer and I had also gotten Jounouchi suspicious of my work and after I 'left' I overheard them say that they were going to follow me on Monday so they can know what my job is." She looked from her mother to her father, hoping that this was all making sense. "So, when they follow me on Monday, which I know they will, I'll make sure of it, you will have three witnesses from the outside testifying that you could not have survived that crash."_

* * *

The signal had turned green for Anzu and she rode her bike to the other side of the road before continuing on in the same direction she was headed to before. No one would actually know what was about to happen in the next four minutes, except for her. She gulped, however, she was afraid that she would be the only one there after this that would actually have the knowledge of the truth. What they were planning was risky . . . Ani could actually die from this if she wasn't on her guard. Anzu could only pray that everything would work out well and no casualties were caused.

_

* * *

_

"Where_ exactly do you think I'm supposed to crash my dear? It's not like I can actually risk anybody else's life or lives for that matter. I'm supposed to disappear, not make strangers disappear."_

_Anzu sighed and nodded. "I know. That's why I also just came up with this. At 3:05 PM tomorrow, I should be at the Central crosswalk at the intersection. By 3:06 I should cross it and be on the other side where the guardrail for the bridge is. At 3:10 I will look over to the guys, who should still be across the street for me, pretend to be surprised to see them, and then, that's when you come out of nowhere, and pretend to lose control of your breaks. It'll look like you're going to hit me, because I'm too preoccupied with waving to my friends to notice the swerving car-_

* * *

Anzu glanced out of the corner of her left eye and did a double-take. She saw her friends and, making sure they saw her, waved "happily" at them. They jumped and Anzu knew that they knew she had spotted them. Their little tailing gig was over. She "laughed" as she rode her bike along. For a person who was observing this on the outside, they would have gasped at the realization that a car was now coming down the lane and swerving around as if the breaks were out of control. They would have been even more surprised to see that the girl, who was right in the line of attack from the car, had yet to notice the sound of screeching tires against the tar road.

Of course, however, just as Anzu planned, she looked up at the last minute and saw an all too familiar candy apple red Mazda heading directly her way. Her eyes widened as if real fear and horror had stuck her.

* * *

She swerved her bike out of the way of the car, so she wouldn't get hit, but ended up crashing into the guardrail, none too softly either. She heard a crack before falling off her bike on the ground, gasping for breath due to the fact that her running into the rail on her bike caused her to lose it. She heard her friend's call out her name in the distance as she looked up at the car. She saw her mother in the driver's seat, appearing to be unconscious. But whether Anzu knew for sure if she were acting or not, she didn't know. But the blood running down the side of her mother's face drained the blood from Anzu's own face. Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't tell if her mother was breathing or not because of the closed car door and the air bag blocking most of her face. She began to panic for real. What if her mother really was dead?

* * *

_Ani and Konami stared at Anzu, shocked expressions on their faces. "Anzu, did you just come up with that all on your own?"_

* * *

She watched in true fear as the car tipped delicately over the side of the bridge, the guardrail now broken. "Mom-" as she finished her plea, she stared horror stricken as the car fell over the side of the bridge and into the cold, icy water below. She wanted to scream, but her throat was too dry in order for to do so. She wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't fall. She couldn't feel as she watched, in slow motion, her mother's car fall down into the water and deeply submerge itself below its surface.

She was too dazed to hear three pairs of feet running up to her and three voices calling out her name. "Anzu! ANZU!"

She looked up into the faces of her three best friends, but who they were didn't register in her mind. She was sure she had just watched her mother die . . . nothing and no one else mattered. She screamed, tears falling down her face. She felt hands and arms trying to comfort her, but she slapped them away. She didn't want to be comforted, she didn't deserve it. "What have I done?" She wept out loud. "WHAT HAVE I DONE?"

Her friends stared at her oddly. Yuugi spoke. "What do you mean Anzu? You didn't do anything..."

"Yeah, it was that crazy driver in the car. Who the hell gave her, her license?"

Honda looked at Jounouchi. "_Her_?"

Jounouchi scoffed in disgust. "Yeah! Who'd you expect? A _man_? Everyone knows that women can't drive-" Honda and Yuugi glared at him. "What-?" Anzu stood up and smacked him across his face . . . _hard_. She watched as he fell to the ground. "OUCH! What did you do that for-"

"YOU IDIOT!" She cried now both furious and grief stricken. She fell to her knees. "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT! HOW DARE YOU!" She wailed, holding her head. The guilt weighing heavily on her shoulders.

_

* * *

_

_Anzu's breath was ragged but she answered despite. "Yes, yes I did. I was always the one with a," she smiled bitterly, "fascinating imagination . . . wasn't I?"_

_Ani went over to her daughter and hugged her tightly. Anzu wrapped her arms around her, and cried yet again. "Yes, yes you were." Both of them cried in each other's arms. It was agreed silently: Ani's fate has been sealed . . . by the hands of her own daughter. _

* * *

Jounouchi looked at her oddly. "Uh, Anzu . . .?" He reached out to touch her but she smacked his hand away.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT HER! HOW DARE YOU!" Her tears fell like Niagara Falls now. "THAT WAS MY MOTHER IN THE CAR YOU IDIOT! MY **_MOTHER_**!" She withdrew her hands to her body and clutched her chest as Jounouchi, Yuugi, and Honda all paled and Jounouchi felt guilty for what he had said.

Her heart was breaking as guilt seeped its way into her very being. She felt responsible for her mother's death. It was _her_ that came up with this idea; it was _her_ that convinced her parents to agree to this. And it was _her_ who had watched her plan unfold in front of her very eyes.

She felt like a bloody murderer.

* * *

Yes! It is Chapter 2! I'm posting these stories faster than I thought I would. Probably because I have a, um . . . ahem _friend encouraging _to write finish writing these chapters. So I think this is going pretty well, my pace anyway. Oh, and as the author, I feel it is my job to warn that the rating for this story will most likely be bumped up to "M" because of potential rape coming up within the next two chapters. No, I'm not smiling because I like writing about rape . . . BELIEVE ME! I'm NOT demented and twisted like that like some people out there . . . you know who you are! Anyway, I'm smiling because I know you'll guys will come back because I know I would if the author said something like this. Then again, I'm not you, nor are you me . . . so . . . never mind. I just hope you guys come back! I'm happy for the reviews that I've received from those of you who have taken the time out of your busy reading schedule to actually give me your opinions. It really helps to encourage me . . . even though I think I get a lot of it here . . . sweat-drops thinking of a certain best friend Ah-ha . . . yeah, please look forward to Chapter 3!

Cangel41790


	4. Heart Shattered

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh because if I did, the show would have encouraged the Anzu and Kaiba pairing.

_Thoughts/flashbacks_

**Heart Shattered**

* * *

Anzu ran home and straight to her room, crying hysterically as she did. She couldn't face her dad, the feeling of being a murderer with the blood of her mother on her hands drove her nearly to the state of insanity. She was positive that her mother had died in that crash. She fell down onto her bed and buried her face into her pillow, screaming until she was sure her lungs were bleeding. _WHAT HAVE I DONE?_ She thought over and over again. She wept louder with every thought and ended up crying all afternoon and late into the evening.

It was past 8:30 PM now and she was still crying. She hadn't been disturbed all day; she was pretty sure someone came by and it was probably her friends or the media to ask what she saw and how she felt, but she didn't care. Even now she was too involved with her hysterics to notice her father walk in, the house phone at his ear. "Uh-huh . . . Yes she is . . . Are you sure? I don't think I'll be able to get her on the phone . . . All right I'll try." He walked cautiously over to his heart-shattered daughter and placed a gentle, comforting hand on her back.

Anzu gasped; she wasn't expecting anyone to touch her. She looked up through her tears to her father's kind countenance. The tears sped out quicker now. "OH DAD! WHAT HAVE I DONE? WHAT HAVE I DONE! I KILLED MOM! I'M SURE OF IT! THERE'S _NO POSSIBLE WAY_ SHE SURVIVED THAT!" She buried her face into his shirt, drenching it with her tears.

Konami wrapped his arms around his hysterical child. "Shh, it's all right Anzu. It'll be okay . . ." He said, comforting her.

Anzu only shook her head. "How can you say that? I just killed mom, and you're saying that it'll be all right! I don't understand!" She sobbed louder.

Konami smiled, slightly amused, the phone still in his grasp. "You need to calm down dear. If you keep crying like this, what would your mother think?"

Anzu only cried, "We would be able to ask her if she were alive!" She continued to beat herself up mentally. _I'm a murderer! What was I thinking? I can't believe I did that! There must have been another way and I was just too upset to see it at the time! How foolish of me! I'm such a FOOL!_

Konami's smile widened. "Well, if that's how you feel about, why not just ask her?"

Anzu stopped; her thoughts, her breath, and her heart just stopped. _What did he say?_ She looked up at him. "Wh-what?"

He wanted to laugh lightly. "I said, 'Why not just ask her?'" He held the phone up for to see. Apparently she hadn't noticed the electronic device in his hands earlier. She looked back and forth from her father's hand to his face and back to his hand. When she just stopped to stare at it he put it in her hands and said, "I think there's someone you need to talk to." With that he got up and left the room, a kind look to his eyes.

After she watched the door close and a certain "click" was heard, she hesitantly looked down at the phone in her hands. _C-could she really be . . .?_ She gulped nervously, yet still hopeful. She cautiously brought it up to her ear and said, "H-hello?"

A familiar voice was heard from the other side of the line and it nearly caused Anzu to drop the phone. "Anzu? Oh, Anzu, dear are you all right?"

More tears fell from her eyes as her heart beat more rapidly. "M-Mom?" Her voice was shaky and sounded like it would break at any moment. "It's really you, isn't it?'

She could hear Ani laugh lightly from the other side. "Of course it is, sweetie. I told you I wouldn't die. I _promised_ you that I wouldn't, didn't I?"

Anzu felt herself release the breath that she had been holding in, relieved to know that her mom was alive. "Yes you did. I forgot and I . . . I thought that-"

"Shh, dear. Don't finish that thought; don't even think it! Your plan worked like a charm. And, what's more, I'm not even harmed!"

Anzu didn't believe that. "But, I saw you in the car! You had blood on your face and-"

"Oh that? That was a special liquid that I put on my face and the air bag. The liquid reacts with water, which was on the air bag, to create the appearance of blood. It was something else that I was taught during my training as an agent. Didn't you go through something like?"

Anzu sniffed as she thought for a moment before nodding; briefly forgetting that she was on the phone. "Uh . . . yes. I think . . . yes, yes I did now that I think about it." She wiped her tear stained cheeks. "But, how did you survive the fall into the water?"

She thought she could hear her mother smile, but that was impossible. "That's simple. As the car tipped over the edge of the bridge, I popped the air bag so I could get out and unfasten my seatbelt. I readied myself for the fall and lucky for me I had my window down." She laughed slightly. "As the car began plummeting, I hoisted myself out of my chair and was able to dive out of the window into the water, _away_ from my sinking car." She sighed. "I wasn't harmed in any way honey, so there's no need to fret." She scoffed lightly. "I hope you never thought of me as weak before dear; in order for you to break down like this, then I assume that you used to think me so."

It was Anzu's turn to laugh, and boy did it feel good to do so. "No I never thought you to be weak mom. _Slow_ perhaps, but not weak."

She heard her mom gasp. "Why Anzu Mazaki! I never! I am NOT slow." She said, pretending to be offended.

"Well, not when compared to a turtle, no."

Both of them laughed this time. "All right, all right I get it, dear. But now that this is over," her voice became serious, "You know what you have to do from here on out. I'm dead now sweetheart."

Anzu's face became stern. "Yes mom… I'm well aware."

"Good. Now, about my funeral . . . it will be awkward to have one without having my body. So when they can't find it in the water, just say that you'll have it on the bridge at night. All right? That way no one has to worry about getting, uh, hit by a car."

Anzu almost grimaced. "Right, that wouldn't be good. All right, so the funeral is going to be held on the bridge at the site of the accident. I wonder how many people will show up."

"The amount of people doesn't matter. What _matters_ is that you stay focused. Remember, just because I 'died' doesn't mean that KSPO will give you a break from your, heh, heh, _Kaiba-sitting_."

Anzu groaned. "Are you serious? Well, I guess that's to be expected." She sighed. "All right, I suppose things will have to continue here 'normally'."

"Yes they will dear. Now I have to go, they're calling me in right now."

Anzu nodded. "All right mom. Will I be able to talk with you later?"

"Yes you will. I'll make sure of it!"

"Promise?"

"Promise! Now I must go! I'll try to get in contact with you tomorrow. Bye sweetie, I love you!"

"I love you too mom!"

With a delayed pause, Anzu finally heard a "click" and the dial-tone in her ear. She pressed the "END" button on the hand set and sighed, before going out of her room and walking down the steps. She saw her dad sitting in the living room watching the television: the news.

Anzu sat down next to her dad and wrapped her arms around his middle. "A lot has happened hasn't it dad? First I'm initiated in the KSPO and then I have to give up my dream to become a dancer and now I have to give up mom." She looked up at him, "Will I have to give you up too dad?"

She watched her dad smile before hugging her and saying, "I can't answer that Anzu. I suppose that if H.Q. needs me then, yes, you will have to give me up. But you must remember," he looked into her face as he spoke, "they will not be able to keep me from you forever. Same thing goes for your mother. KSPO can't keep her from us forever. One of these days, when the threats on Kaiba's life considerably go down, then we'll all be together again. And nothing and _no one_ will be able to prevent that!"

Anzu smiled happily and kissed her father's cheek lovingly. "Thank you dad!"

He kissed his daughter's forehead. "You're welcome, my little apricot."

She rested her head on her father's shoulder as they watched the news; it was covering the story of her mother's car crash and how the police cannot find her body. She heard the phrase "possible murder" and she wanted to scream. Even though she knew her mother was alive and it looked like an accident, she couldn't shake the fact that she could have been considered her mother's murderer for even a _second_ in her life.

She sighed before asking, "Hey dad? Can we get something to eat now?"

He smiled, "I'm glad you said that because," the doorbell rang, "I hope you're in the mood for Chinese take-out."

Anzu gave her father an incredulous look as he answered the door. _Is this going to be my diet from now on?_ She watched as he opened the door, exchanged the money for the bags with the delivery boy, and closed the door, heading for the kitchen. "Hey Anzu! Come on before it gets cold!"

She shook her head as she stood up, forgetting to turn off the television. "Hey dad!"

"Yeah?"

"Now that mom is, 'dead' does this mean that my diet is now going to consist of take out?"

He laughed. "Of course not! We'll also go out to restaurants and diners!"

"Dad!" She chased him around. "You lazy!"

He laughed as he ran from his daughter. "Yes I am!"

They laughed as they ran all over the house, completely forgetting about the news report that was now on:

"And the serial killer strikes again; his third victim this week. This man doesn't seem like he'll stop, but the police has been able to capture a picture of this man." A picture appeared on the screen: a sketch. More than half of it was shrouded in shadow, but from what was visible, the man had an uncanny resemblance to Konami Mazaki.

* * *

Yuugi, Jounouchi, and Honda walked down the corridors of their school the next day, an awkward silence between them. They were thinking about what they should say to Anzu. After she had ran away from the scene of the accident yesterday, they had been lost spirits. How were they supposed to comfort her? They had never felt the pain of losing someone they love. The three boys exchanged looks, transferring the same thought that they had to each other: _Would she even be at school today?_

They walked into their classroom and looked toward Anzu's seat . . . empty. They sighed, but whether it was one of disappointment or relief they didn't know. But inside all of them, they hoped that Anzu would not come to school today. They knew she needed to be left alone with her father so they could mourn the loss of a beloved family member.

They went to set their stuff down before they gravitated toward Anzu's desk. Yuugi placed a shaky hand on the table top before speaking. "You guys think she'll come to school today?"

Honda and Jounouchi didn't answer or shrug, but their silence was enough for their friend. _Of course she wouldn't come. I wouldn't come if that happened to me._ Yuugi looked up at the clock, a _minute_ until school began. Yuugi sighed before walking back to his desk and took out his notebook and started writing his name and date at the top corner, getting ready to start class. For once, Honda and Jounouchi followed suit. They sent each other a remorseful glance before departing to their own desks.

Kaiba watched from behind the cover of his novel as the geek squad gathered around their friend's empty desk and wondered what had them so disturbed. He didn't really care, but something was up with their cheerleader yesterday. Since their little confrontation yesterday, he had been mulling over the issue in his mind over and over. The lack of details refused to give him peace of mind. He heard some whispers from the other classmates that happened to include Anzu's name. Stuff like: "Did you guys see the news last night? Poor Mazaki!", "I can't believe it happened to her! Do you think she'll show up at school?", and "Not only was it her mother that was in danger, but so was Mazaki herself. Nearly hit by a car! Can you believe it?"

The last one caught his attention. He scoffed mentally. It was just like that girl to be careless and klutzy in the middle of a busy intersection. "You know? I heard that it was her _mother_ that was in the car that nearly ran her over!" This made Kaiba put his book down. Obviously he hadn't seen the news last night. He was too involved in a meeting that was quickly draining his energy; and he swore that it had lowered his ridiculously high IQ with every passing second. He grimaced, the unpleasant recollection threatening to sour his stoic mood.

Then, the bell suddenly rang and Kaiba immediately snapped out of his thoughts and continued on with his reading. He'd been concerned with the daily gossip for far too long already and he didn't want the lack of intelligence to reach his brain if he continued to listen to pry. The teacher walked in and cleared his throat before telling the class to take their seats so he could take attendance. He called out the names in alphabetical order and stopped when he had gotten to Anzu's name. He hesitated before saying her name.

" . . . Mazaki-san?"

Silence, just as he had expected, but being a creature of habit he called out of her full name. "Mazaki Anzu?"

Yuugi raised his hand steadily and the teacher called on him. "I don't think Mazaki-chan will be coming in today . . ."

The teacher nodded, not pressing for details. He already knew. "Right . . . So I will mark Mazaki-san-"

He was interrupted with the slow swoosh of the door. He dropped his pencil when he looked to see who was standing there. "Mazaki-san!" The entire class immediately stopped talking and doing whatever it was that they were doing and looked up to see Anzu standing in the doorway. Even Kaiba lowered his book some to see what it was everyone was staring at.

Anzu was looking down at the ground, her eyes downcast and hidden behind her bangs. She was slumped over and looked pale, even her hair lacked any life. "I'm sorry, Yamata-sensei . . ." her voice was raspy and low, almost a whisper.

Yamata looked at the seemingly broken girl standing in the doorway, disbelieving that she actually came to class.

Anzu took slow, unsteady steps into the classroom and murmured to her teacher and classmates, "Forgive me . . . I'm afraid I'm late." She bowed slightly before continuing over to her desk, her feet shuffling on the tile, much like she had done yesterday. She felt three pairs of eyes staring intently at her while others merely looked on. When she was finally at her desk, she jerkily removed her backpack from her back and let it fall to the ground. After that, she plopped . . . no, fell into her seat and just sat in a humped over fashion for a minute or two before digging out her materials for her class. She took out her notebook and opened up to a blank page before she started writing her name and date on the paper. However, her grip on her pencil was "weak" and her penmanship was unsteady and the writing on the page was light. No one would have been able to tell that she had written something on the page.

The whole class sat in an astonished silence, questions popping up in their heads like daisies. The teacher gulped, not knowing whether he should continue on with the attendance, he was too afraid to speak, let alone move.

Anzu noticed the lack of talking and movement in the classroom since she walked into the room. So she took in a breath slowly and said coarsely, "Yamata-sensei . . . is something the matter? I'm sure you haven't finished attendance yet and I would like to get on with the lesson today . . ."

Yamata dropped his pencil onto his desk again when heard Anzu address him. "Oh . . . o-of course. So, uh, Okino-san?" He continued with the attendance and, once he was finished, hesitantly began the lesson.

* * *

Yuugi glanced at Jounouchi who glanced at Honda who glanced back at Yuugi, all of them in shock to see Anzu here at school. All of their eyes fell on her figure: she was still slumped over in her chair and seemed to be writing aimlessly on the paper. Yuugi ripped off a corner of his paper and wrote something on it before crumbling it up and tossing it on to the surface of her desk gently. He didn't know if she saw the note at first because she made no acknowledgement of its existence on her desk, but then he saw her hand come up to the top of her desk and slowly take the crumbled up piece of paper.

Anzu was working steadily on her school work. She may have appeared frail and easy to break to the others, but she wasn't, thanks to the call her mother made last night. She felt a thousand times better than she had yesterday afternoon when she was crying into her bed. Yes, she still felt guilty about what she did to her mother and what could have possibly been the outcome of their plan; but just knowing that her mother was alive and well had calmed her considerably! Now she was ready to take on the world . . . for the most part anyway. Granted she still felt a little shaken, but that was all right. She had witnessed something traumatizing, and it was that feeling that she had to concentrate on for the next week and a half. She wasn't about to come to school tomorrow all perky and happy when everyone believed her to be mourning over her mother's "death".

Anzu was too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice that a little ball of paper had made its way onto her desk unnoticeably. She finished writing her notes before she actually noticed the paper ball on her desk. She slowly took out her hand from beneath her desk and picked up the ball between her thumb and forefinger. She assumed it was a note from the boys and opened it slowly. It was from Yuugi:

_Anzu! I can't believe that you're in school! I thought-we thought- that you would have stayed home with your dad to mourn your mother's death and take care of any injuries that you could have gotten from the accident._

Anzu smiled mentally. Yuugi was so kind and caring . . . her best friend was always right there by her side. She wanted to smile at him, but remembered she wasn't allowed to so she simply looked up at him. Her expression void of all feeling, as was her eyes. She saw him gulp and then forced herself to force a small smile on her face to reassure him. She was sure the small smile surprised him because she watched his eyes widen. She merely sighed afterwards and put her head down on her desk before she forced fake tears to make them present at the rims of her eyes.

For the rest of the day, Anzu made it a point to avoid her friends' questions and comments about her presence at school. She had already heard enough whispers from nearby classmates and she was getting annoyed with them. She waited for lunch to come around and that's when she was going to pull her "I'm really not in the mood to talk with anybody" card.

And right on cue, the bell for lunch rang and she kept her head down and eyes closed as the students vacated the classroom. After they had gone, only five people remained in the room: Anzu, Yuugi, Honda, Jounouchi, and Kaiba. The threesome ignored him, as did Anzu, because they knew that he always stayed in the classroom because of his so-called "anthrophobia".

Yuugi, Honda, and Jounouchi walked over to Anzu, almost scared to talk to her. They had no idea what to say to her! How do you console someone who had just lost their mother? It was an awkward feeling and position to be in as her best friends. And being present at the scene didn't exactly soothe their minds either . . . especially Jounouchi. He had said some things that he shouldn't have and had only made her angry at him. He didn't know if she was still mad at him or not, but it made him even more scared.

Anzu's head was still in her arms on her desk, a strange sense of déjà vu washing over her. Then she realized that there was a familiar shuffling of feet on the ground and it was growing unsteadily louder. She then came to the conclusion that it was her friends coming over to "console" her. She didn't want that. Even if her mother wasn't alive, she didn't want their pity. Pitying a person never amounted to anything. Not to mention that their condolences wouldn't mean anything if they didn't empathize with her. Without them knowing what it felt like, their words were just noise in the air. So, before they could come any nearer, she decided to grab her bag, stand up, and start heading out of the room. She was going to the bathroom, she knew they wouldn't follow her there because she had already gave them the excuse of her being on her period and that was reason enough to leave her alone.

"Hey Anzu-" Yuugi started, but Anzu just ignored him. She didn't want to talk to anybody, "death" of her mother or not. She was annoyed with them for actually following her yesterday when she had specifically told them not to! All right, so she needed them to be there to see her mother's but still . . . she didn't want to have them there!

Jounouchi and Honda tried getting her attention, but she still ignored their calls. She disappeared out the door. She got about halfway down the hall when she heard a set of footsteps behind her. She growing even more annoyed with her dear friends and was about to address them when she heard a singular voice call her name . . . this one made her stop. She didn't look at him when she responded, "What do you want Kaiba?"

He merely strode up behind and looked at her slumped figure. "I think you have some explaining to do." He watched as she turned and gazed up at him. "I keep hearing the annoying whispers and remarks floating about our classroom. I hear events but not details; I'm demanding details. What has gotten into you?"

Anzu stared at him almost incredulously. Was he really that out of the loop? It made her want to laugh! "Why the interest Kaiba? Can't stand being out of touch with petty gossip? I thought you were too high and mighty to care about us 'peasants'." Her words had almost a bitter ring to them. He frowned at her comment as she continued, "Kaiba . . . honestly. You just amaze me sometimes, you know? Tell me, when did you get home last night?"

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "Why would you want to know? Suddenly interested in my private schedule Mazaki? Do you plan on stalking me?"

Anzu couldn't help but laugh inwardly and smile at the irony. "No, I guarantee you I don't _plan_ it. I was just asking because it was all over the news."

He cocked an eyebrow. "I don't have time to watch the news. What goes on in this pathetic city doesn't really peak my interest."

Anzu, however, simply scoffed and said, "No wonder." She turned back towards her destination. Before she walked away she said, "I…I lost my mother yesterday…" she bit back real and forced tears. "If you want to know more go talk to those three in the classroom… I really . . ." her sentence was broken up by a sniff and she felt tears run down her cheek, "really need to be alone right now." Her voice cracked at the end of her sentence before she ran out of down the hall.

Kaiba just stared after her, this new found information almost plaguing his mind. He watched her disappear around the corner before heading back to the classroom. Inside, he saw the "geek squad" conversing amongst themselves. He leaned against the doorway and said, "So are you going to inform me or will I have to find another source?"

They looked over at him, cross expressions on their faces. "Excuse me?" asked Yuugi.

Kaiba thrust his hands into his pockets and sauntered over. "I refuse to repeat myself. Mazaki's mother is dead? Since when and how?"

The three of them just stared at him incredulously. "What do you mean 'since when'? Don't you watch the news Kaiba?" asked Yuugi, quite put off by his classmate's attitude.

"What goes on in this annoying little town doesn't concern me enough to give the news the time of day." Retorted Kaiba. "I have more pressing issues to deal with than to be concerned with the lives of others that don't affect my own."

"Then why are you even asking?" asked Honda. "If it doesn't matter to you, why the interest?"

Kaiba's cold eyes glared at him, "For confirmation of what I know. Mazaki almost got hit by a car her mother was driving and from that accident her mother is dead."

Yuugi spoke up, "Well that would be accurate. But again, if you know, why are you asking Kaiba?"

"Isn't it obvious? Sane people do not almost hit their children in a car and kill themselves in the process. Her mother must have either been high or drunk while she driving."

Yuugi grew red with anger and Honda was about ready to holler at him when Jounouchi spoke with a surprisingly calm tone, "You know what Kaiba? I really can't believe you." He approached him, a hardened look in his eyes. "You're really something. You are the damn richest and smartest kid in school and yet you can't even conjure up the _decency_ to respect the dead."

Kaiba just looked down on Jounouchi. "I don't live my life by pleasing others mutt. I should think that you were aware of that by now."

"Yeah, you're right Kaiba. I do know that by now. And I used to think that you actually had some class. But I can see that I was wrong." Kaiba glared at Jounouchi. "Don't give me that ice. It's one thing to insult us, but to insult someone you have never even laid eyes on before is just disgusting. You don't even know _how_ she died you moron."

"Like I care. If she's a user then it was probably an overdose—" Kaiba was interrupted by a swift punch at his jaw. The jab caught him off guard and he staggered back a bit. "What the hell?"

Jounouchi glared up at the towering man with the now bruised jaw. "You're such ignorant bastard. For your information, Ani Mazaki was an upstanding lawyer in her community and a role model to her daughter. She's fought against major corporations for the sake of low income families and always did her best to help the misfortunate. She lived to help others and always did it with a smile on her face! To call her a druggie or an alcoholic is a disgrace to everything she has done and her family!" Jounouchi headed towards the exit, with Yuugi and Honda in tow. "Here's some advice for you Kaiba: apologize to Anzu. If you've never done a decent thing in your life before, start now." With that, the trio exited the room for the rest of the lunch period.

Kaiba merely watched them leave the classroom. He huffed before going back to his seat, the edge of frustration beginning to eat at the edge of his ego. He reached for his laptop and prepared himself to get to work, but he couldn't concentrate. He growled in frustration and slammed his laptop shut.

He didn't need to listen to that mutt. He didn't owe anybody an apology. So what if he assumed the worst of someone he hadn't even met before? People do it to him all the time and he doesn't give a crap about it! What did it matter if he disrespected the dead? It didn't mean anything to him.

He leaned back in his chair and subconsciously gripped the necklace hanging about his neck. He lifted it up and opened it. He allowed a rare smile to grace his lips as he gazed upon his younger brother's picture. Mokuba didn't know it, but resembled their mother so much… Same eyes and same hair. Their mother was kind and very loving. Even though he didn't get to know her very well because of their parents' untimely death, he knew that she was a strong individual who was able to carry even the heaviest burdens on her shoulders with a smile.

In the orphanage he remembered how Mokuba was teased for looking so much like a girl and how the other kids verbally abused him saying that their mother died to get away from them. He remembered throwing every single one of those bad-mouthing kids into the dirt face first with his fists. He gripped the locket at the memory. He briefly made the connection between his situation and Anzu's. He tried to brush it away but couldn't. Dammit he really hated relating to other people. It was like it brought them up a level closer to him.

He refused. There was no way he was going to apologize to Mazaki. He'd rather get punched again by the mutt. He was not going to degrade himself by apologizing to the only female on the face of this planet that was actually able to get under his skin.

He looked the picture of his younger brother again and sighed. He knew Mokuba was fond of Anzu and even though he'd never admit it to anyone, he wouldn't stand it if Mokuba was disappointed in him for something he did. He closed his eyes and tried to ward off these thoughts, but only to have a quick flash of beautiful woman with raven hair, grey eyes, and a warm smile behind his eyelids.

His eyes shot open as he groaned profusely. This wasn't going to leave him at peace until he actually apologized would it? The uncomfortable twisting in his stomach told him no.

* * *

The last period of the day finally rolled around. Anzu prayed that the class would go by quickly; she was getting tired of all the looks and sympathetic comments she was receiving from her fellow classmates. In fact, she was so sick of it she absolutely believed that she would vomit the next time someone looked at her with pity. If she didn't like pity before, she sure as hell **hated** it now! She knew the others meant well, but too much of a "good" thing can be a bad thing. She sighed, boy how she wanted to get _out of here!_

Unfortunately, luck was against her, for the period seemed to drag on even _longer_ than usual. She groaned mentally and put her head down, trying to block out all of the idiotic drabble she heard being whispered back and forth from the other students. She glanced toward them out of the corners of her eyes every now and then when she heard the all too familiar phrase "I feel so sorry for her!" She wanted to rip her hair out! It was the end of the freaking day! The gossip should have died out by now! She bit back a growl and meshed it into a groan instead. Getting angry at them wasn't going to solve anything. In fact, it would probably just make everything worse. She sighed, suddenly feeling emotionally fatigued. She couldn't wait to get home.

For some reason she glanced around her, her eyes lingering on the sight of her friends. They seemed to be deeply involved with the lesson . . . even Honda and Jounouchi.

She was genuinely surprised by this! The only times she had ever seen Jounouchi and Honda focused was when food, fighting or duel monsters was involved. Actually, since the end of lunch she had noticed how solemn the two had been. Remembering the past events she then looked back at Kaiba, who still had his nose in his book. She sighed and came to the conclusion that whatever happened at lunch was nothing to be concerned over. With that she yawned as she buried her head into her arms . . . she just wanted this day to be over!

_

* * *

_

_A searing pain ripped through her body as something heavy crashed into her, forcing her to the cold hard ground. She landed with a painful thud, writhing uncomfortably on the ground. Her eyes shot open, momentarily blinded from the sudden change from darkness to light. Her eyes darted back and forth, desperately trying to pinpoint the cause of her pain. She sat up slowly, her arms trembling as pain shot through her, originating from her ribs. Instinctually she grasped her ribs, a warm, sticky substance greeted her fingers. She looked down to see fingers coated in a mixture of blood and… oil?_

_Panic and dread filled her senses as she found the source of the oil: a car was precariously hanging just above her on a guard rail, threatening to fall over the edge at the slightest movement. She cautiously dragged herself from beneath the car, agonizingly relieving herself of the heat of the exhaust. _

_She crawled away, the cool air soothing her throbbing head. She distanced herself far enough to safely lean against the rail she was by. Groaning, she painstakingly looked over at the car… it was a candy apple red Mazda, but the shade of the car looked more like blood than a candy apple. Her heart throbbed almost more painfully as familiarity set in. _

_She recognized the flower stickers on the shattered windows, the pine air freshener now fallen on the dashboard, and even the sound of the broken horn. Her blood ran cold as her fearful eyes fell upon the bleeding profile of her mother. She struggled to her feet, clumsily flopping over as she tried to get closer to the car. _

_She fell to the ground as she stepped forward, crying out her for her mom. She saw her mother faintly twitch and shift her eyes over to her daughter. Chills ran down her spine as her lifeless eyes gazed upon her and a dying expression in her eyes. Anzu struggled to reach her mother, but her body was much too weak to move. She watched in chilled horror as the car tipped over the edge and plummeted to the water below. _

_Anzu screamed in anguish as she watched the scene unfold before. This wasn't how the plan was supposed to go! She sobbed into the concrete she was sprawled out on. She looked down at the blood on her hands and felt the bile build in the back of her throat; she was guilty of her mother's blood now. _

_She heard faint whispers and the shuffling of feet. She looked around and found that numerous amounts of shadow figures had surrounded her, whispers and pointed eyes gossiping about the scene before them. Their muffled accusations and half baked ideas flooded her ears, causing blood to leak from them. She covered her ears, desperately trying to block out the murmurs. She cried out, begging for all of this to end._

_Then, a name pierced the crowd, her name. The cry was like a needle shooting through her, sharp and painful; but it silenced the crowd. She heard her name again, familiarity striking her senses. She looked around and watched as the crowd disappeared, leaving behind a lone figure: a towering, intimidating figure with cold cobalt eyes. The figure called her name again and she winced, fear taking over her senses. _

_Before she could blink, the figure charged at her. Time was distorted as it raced towards her. At first she thought it would collide into her until its form changed from that of a towering human being to the dreadful shape of a large dragon with piercing blue eyes. She screamed as she watched its mouth open wide enough to engulf her, only to hear her name being called once again…_

* * *

"MAZAKI!" a loud voice rang throughout the now empty classroom.

Anzu shot up out of her chair, trembling violently. She panted heavily, trying to calm her racing heart. _I'm okay…_ she thought as she touched her cheeks to make sure she was back in reality. She wiped her eyes as they relaxed from the sudden jolt from darkness to light and looked around to see who had been calling her name. She looked up into the same pair of two cold cobalt eyes from her nightmare, "It's about time you woke up. I have an important meeting to get to and you're wasting my time."

She sighed and looked around and saw that they were the only two left in the classroom. Looked away from him, still shaken from her dream."Why are you still here then?"

He looked down at her. "I have something to say and you're going to listen to me."

She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. "Oh? Why's that?"

Kaiba just glared at her. "I said so that's why."

Anzu scoffed. "Like that is going to get me to stay and listen to you?" She reached for her bag before she stood up from her desk, trembling slightly as she did. "Look, if your _precious_ meeting is so important to you then why not just take off? I'm not really interested in anything you have to say right now, so if you'll excuse me." She walked away from him towards the door, but before she could even reach it a tight grip wrapped itself around her wrist. She winced as she turned to see a scowling countenance chastising her behavior.

"You better watch your mouth Mazaki." He growled out. "You'll do well to learn to give your superiors the respect they deserve."

Anzu felt the coursing blood in her veins heat up, the tremors from her body now still. Her hand balled into a tight fist, twitching with the need to connect with his jaw. She ripped her wrist out of his grip and glared up at him. "Just who do you think you are? You have no power over me nor does your life concern me! Thus, I have no reason to listen to you!" She tried to leave the room again but Kaiba pulled her further into the room and shoved her back up against the wall.

A steely look pinned her fiery attitude to the wall. His grip on her arms tightened considerably. Anzu wanted to wince, but refused to give him the satisfaction. "Woman don't you _dare_ talk to me like that!" His breath was hot against her, burning her eyes. "You think I want to waste my time here with you? Believe me I have more pressing matters to attend to, but, dammit, Mokuba would never look at me the same again if I didn't do this!"

Her eyes narrowed; he had her attention now. What in the world did Mokuba have to do with anything? "What the hell are you talking about Kaiba?"

He released her arms and stepped back. "Look, I'm only going to say this once so listen carefully. I always expect and assume the worst of people because I have yet to see sincere goodwill come out of others. In the corporate world, goodwill is nothing but a show; competitions to see who can get the biggest write off by the end of the year. Your mother is no exception. I assumed the worst of her, but after researching her background I found that I was wrong." Anzu widened her eyes; that's the second time Kaiba has ever admitted that he was wrong! The first being the final duel between Yuugi and Atem… "From what I understand, your mother was an upstanding citizen and fighter. Thus, because she is no longer with us, I apologize for slandering her."

Anzu frowned at that. "Slandering her? What did you say?"

"Only an addict or alcoholic would kill themselves and crash into their child," Kaiba stated. "I'm not convinced of her innocence, but there is circumstantial evidence that she was a good person at times."

Fire and ice coursed through her veins. _That _was an "apology"? She about had it at that moment! "You know, Kaiba, you're unbelievable… You have no consideration for others, no respect, and not even _half_ the _decency _of a common human being!"

"Look Mazaki, I don't owe you this apology, but seeing as I cannot talk to the dead you will just have to suffice and accept it."

That was the last straw; before she could stop herself, Anzu let her open palm fly at his cheek. "That's it! I've had it with you!" Her palm tingled as she saw a red mark presenting itself on the side of his face.

His voice was ice, "And to think I actually went out of my why to apologize to someone as worthless as you."

"You call _that_ and apology? How dare you offer those words to me! How stupid are you that you can't even offer someone a decent apology!"

Kaiba groaned and rolled his eyes. "I knew this was a waste of my time…"

The rage within Anzu burned her eyes, furious tears cascading down her cheeks. "You're such a cold, heartless bastard! I don't know _how_ Mokuba deals with you!"

Kaiba threw his hand around her mouth, his voice as cold as ice: "How dare you! Don't speak of things that don't concern you, wretch."

Anzu slapped his hand away from her mouth. "Pot calling the kettle black Kaiba," she growled out. "You have no right to judge or assume the worst of people you do not know. I don't care about your freaking past! It does not give you a right to blaspheme the name of good people!" She pushed past him and hurried to the door before he could catch her again. "Consider your 'apology' _rejected_!" She exited the door and sprinted to the end of the hall and out of the building.

Her blood continued to boil as her body quaked with rage. _How dare he… how **dare** he..._ So what if he was Seto Kaiba! So what if she wasn't supposed to lay a hand on him! So what! She didn't care anymore!

She heard the doors to the school open and shut. She shrank back further into the shadows as she saw the man currently hated emerge from the building. She glared daggers at his back while he slid into his black limo… if only looks could kill…

She faintly picked up the soft sound of grass being crushed behind her. _Crap_, she thought as she swung around to defend herself. However her reaction was too late; she turned around just in time to for a ninja dressed person jab about 500 volts of electric shock into her, just below her rip cage. She fell on the ground, twitching violently and uncontrollably. Midst the pain that coursed through her body she felt a hand grab her neck and firmly squeeze, depriving her of oxygen. Within seconds she passed out.

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated! I will be giving credit to all of my reviewers in the near future!

Cangel41790


	5. Frustrations

_**Disclaimer**_**: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did, then believe me, every tough duel that Yuugi was in wouldn't be "his toughest duel yet" and the "fate of the world" wouldn't be residing on a CARD! **

_Thoughts/Dreams_

**Frustrations**

She didn't know when she woke up but she the worst headache in the world greeted her back in her conscious state as cold, stale air rushed her senses. She felt the cool ground beneath her and recognized it as concrete. She sat up and examined her surroundings. It was dim and cold, but from the looks of it she was in a warehouse. She held her breath, listening intently for any sounds that she might be able to pick up on. The cry of seagulls and rushing waves indicated that she was by the sea.

And what's worse was that she recognized this warehouse… She groaned. That damned organization brought her here many times due to her insubordination. She supposed that the case here wouldn't be any different than before.

_Great… just freaking fantastic_, she thought bitterly. KSPO had been monitoring her every move since she was initiated. Kaiba was her responsibility. She was to make sure that he wasn't harmed in any way, shape, or form. No matter how small the infliction was, she was supposed to prevent him from being harmed, meaning she wasn't allowed to lay a hand on him at all. She ignored that, now this is her punishment… wonderful… that's all she needed.

She carefully stood up from the cold ground, her body still ached from being tasered; aftershock spasms wracked her body sporadically. She moaned, talk about your overkill….

She headed forward, trying to find the exit from the wretched building. She rounded a bunch of boxes and a huge crane. She peered up at the scaffolding and the high windows. She could climb up and leap out, but she would save that option for later. That would be her plan B if she couldn't find a door. Now, to find said door.

She continued to search but unfortunately didn't get very far before she sensed another presence in the warehouse. She looked about herself warily, her senses on high alert.

Listening quite intently to whatever, or whoever, was in there with her, she maneuvered her body defensively. She kept close to the mountain of storage containers, melting into the shadows as best as she could. She strained her ear listening to the silence…

Finally, a slip up. Who or whatever was in there with her forgot to pick up their foot, dragging it across the surface in which they were on. She looked directly above her in the scaffolding and spotted her opponent. She frowned deeply; this wasn't going to be pleasant. She watched as the figure noticed her awareness of its presence. Without warning it jumped down from the scaffolding onto the mountain of containers she was pressed up against and rushed to her, running down the lateral drop towards her.

Anzu geared herself up for an attack before jumping up the side of the containers one by one, ready to meet the figure halfway. Defying all physics, she watched as the figure shifted direction and run directly across the lateral face of the containers and launched itself into the air, ready to strike. Anzu also launched into the air, her own attack prepared. In the light she managed to recognize the figure as the ninja that attacked her at the school. She scoffed and cursed the organization again as they both collided in the air, Anzu connecting her foot with the ninja's hand, knocking whatever weapon he or she had out of his or her grasp.

They both landed on the ground in a crouched position, the breaking sound of the former weapon echoing throughout the warehouse. They both stood, a stalemate just about initiated between the two. Anzu took her fighting stance as the ninja reached into his or her shirt and pulled out a slip of paper and a pair of sunglasses. Without letting her guard down, Anzu relaxed her fighting stance and extended her hand. The ninja tossed the glasses and note over to her. In catching the parcels she noticed the dreaded seal of KSPO.

Her hands quaked in anger. She didn't even bother reading the note. She tore it half and tossed the glasses behind her. This took the ninja off guard, which left an opening for her to attack. She had needed a release for quite awhile now and this was going to be a great stress reliever.

About an hour later, an unconscious body dropped to the ground with a heavy thud while another stood over the figure, grasping her upper left arm painfully. She stared down at her unknown opponent and examined the body before her. The ninja's breathing was slow and deep; some twitching could be seen as the adrenaline fizzled out. Anzu made sure she didn't break anything, but that didn't mean she didn't sincerely hurt this man or woman.

She sighed before going back over to the sunglasses and torn note. Now that she was calm she was able to read that note. She slid the glasses on and picked up the note, reading the disguised ink…

_Consider this a warning. Another mishap and you'll be terminated._

She clenched the halves again, wrinkling them before shredding both into tiny pieces. "Dammit! Dammit to Hell!" She cursed, stomping on the ground, screaming out loud. They were lucky that she didn't wail on Kaiba! The things he said deserved more than just a slap to the face. Something much worse…

This was getting her nowhere… she just needed to get out of this godforsaken warehouse and back to the sunlight. She was just about to leave when she looked back at the unconscious ninja. A sudden shred of guilt ripped through her. She sighed, she couldn't just leave the poor fool like that.

She staggered over to the figure, kneeling down and lifting him or her up. Leaning the heavy body against hers for support, she removed his mask. She was surprised to find that it was a man clearly older than she was; maybe late forties, early fifties. He had a kind face behind the bruises and scratches. She smiled regretfully; this would have been a man that she would have grown to love as a grandfather type figure, like Jii-chan.

She placed his mask back over his head and supported him on her back. Surprisingly enough he wasn't as heavy as she expected. That was until she took a wobbly step and was sent tumbling to the ground…

She groaned. This…was going to be much more complicated than she thought…

Now was not a very good time to anger him. He was late for a meeting, twice in one day he was assaulted by "lesser" beings, his apology was rejected, and to top it all off, some idiot replacement was in the driver's seat! He growled with clenched teeth, he was going to fire the next person who said something stupid.

He typed away hurriedly on his laptop, preparing the materials he needed for his meeting in just a minute or two. Just then, the phone on his desk beeped. Quite infuriated and out of patience, he answered the intercom, "This had better be important or you've lost your job!"

The voice on the other end of the answered hesitantly, "…Your five thirty is here…sir…" The secretary refused to say anything more lest she anger him further.

Kaiba groaned inwardly; great this is the first meeting that he'll have that he isn't completely prepared for. "Fine, send them in." With that he shut off the intercom and prepared himself for the meeting.

He stood as the door to his office opened with two men entered, both suave and refined in their stature. He extended his hand to greet them, both taking his in a firm handshake. Kaiba was satisfied on the inside; a firm handshake was generally a good sign to him that the men across from his desk held promise for his company. "Now, what and who am I offering my time to today?" With that, the meeting was underway.

It was a good two to three hours before Anzu made it back to her home with the still unconscious man in tow. It wouldn't have taken quite so long if she didn't purposefully avoid densely populated areas to avoid unwanted bystanders and their questions. Night was beginning to overcome the twilight hour as she finally reached her destination. She managed to make it to her door before her legs finally gave out on her.

The still unconscious ninja took her down to the ground with an unsteady thud. "Oomph…" she moaned. Lovely… all she needed to do was open the door and get him to her couch… but that was easier said than done. She searched her pockets for her house key only to realize that her key was in her bag and her bag was who knows where! "Dammit…" she cursed softly. Good thing they kept a spare key but that was by the back door...

"Just peachy…" She shrugged the man off of her and laid him gently on the porch before standing and rushing to the back of the house. She hoisted her aching body over the gate to her backyard, landing tiredly on the other side of the house. Making her way over to the back porch she rose up on her tiptoes and felt around for the key on the door pane. Her legs shook with anticipation and fatigue and threatened to give out on her before her fingertips finally caressed dusty metal. She pulled the key down and landed gracefully on her feet, swiftly unlocking the door and opening it. She placed the key back on top of the door frame before entering and locking the door behind her. She ran to the front door, opening it and carefully picking up the unconscious man. She dragged him carefully into the house and slid him up on to the couch, resting his head on one of the pillows.

She sighed as she closed the front door and locked it. Looking back at her passed out guest she figured that she might as well take a quick shower and make some tea. She felt bad for taking her anger out on him and wanted to make it up to him. She hurried up the steps and into the bathroom, throwing off her filthy, ripped clothes and turning on the shower. She grabbed her shampoos, conditioners, and all matter of relaxing scented soaps before climbing into the shower and massaging her aching muscles. She gently ran her loofa over the burn mark where she was tasered, wincing as the warm water burned the wound. She bit back some tears, frustrated that all of this could have been avoided if she had just controlled herself.

Anzu shook her head, no point in getting upset over it again. It wouldn't help her or her guest. After washing her hair and rinsing the soap off her body, she exited the steam filled room and dried her body with a towel, purposely avoiding her bruised ribs, before running into her room and throwing on some loose, comfortable clothes to help her relax. After she fitted her feet inside her cushiony slippers, she headed back into the bathroom to grab a first aid and some peroxide before heading back down the stairs. She placed the box and bottle on the coffee table before heading into the kitchen to fill a tea kettle with water and placing it on the stove. Looking at the cat clock on the wall above the refrigerator, she pulled out three tea cups and three tea bags: one for her, her guest, and—

She heard the front door open and a smile appeared on her face. She peered out into the living room hall and saw a familiar head of hair enter in. She abandoned her place in the kitchen for the moment to welcome her father home. "Dad!" She called as she ran to him.

Konami smiled at her, his tired eyes happy to see her. "Apricot!" He opened his arms for her to run into. He enveloped her in his loving arms. "Hey, what's with warm welcome? Not that I mind at all," he asked with a smile on his face. "You haven't done that since you were about ten years old." He ruffled her hair playfully.

Anzu just nestled into his arms. "Today's been… let's just say a little rough." She rose up on her toes and pecked his cheek. "You're just in time for some tea." She said, quickly leaving for the kitchen.

"Great! I've been needing a little pick me up." He said as loosened his tie and took off his jacket, hanging it up on the coat rack by the front door. He headed towards the kitchen, "So tell me, to what do I owe the pleas—" Konami's voice froze in mid sentence as he looked into the living room. The whistle from the tea kettle went off as Anzu's father walked into the kitchen. "Anzu, do you have something you need to tell me?"

Anzu merely sighed, something she has done far too many times today. "I do." She took out the milk from the refrigerator and poured some into her glass. "Would you like some milk in your tea dad? Or would you prefer lemon?"

He leaned against the door pane. "Milk please… Well? I'm waiting for an explanation, Peach. Why is there a ninja on my couch?"

Anzu continued pouring the tea into the cups. "Well… I was punished again." Konami didn't say anything, only continued listening. "…I slapped Kaiba in the face today."

This earned a rise out of her father. "Anzu Mazaki! You _what_?"

"I slapped him, dad! But he had it coming! You should have heard what he said about mom!" Anzu proclaimed defensively, tears stinging the back of her eyes.

Konami watched her, expecting her to continue. When she didn't he pressed, "What did he say?"

She wiped her eyes dry of tears, "He said that she is either an addict or an alcoholic to kill herself while almost killing her daughter in the process…."

The statement brought a deep frown to her father's face. "And you hit him for that?"

"Of course I did!" she turned to him quickly. "Wouldn't you have done the same thing if someone said that about mom?"

"Anzu—"

"_Wouldn't you_?" She pressed, desperately clinging to her dad's shirt now.

Konami sighed, "Had it been any other person, Anzu, yes I would have." He wrapped his arms around his daughter. "But Kaiba isn't just _any one_, and we're not in **any** position to cross that line. You know that."

She hugged her dad. "It's not fair…. He shouldn't be able to get away with slandering good people." She buried her face in her father's shirt again.

He rested his chin atop her hair. "I know peach. But that's how the way things work when you're involved in this." Anzu opened her mouth to protest but her father cut her off. "You just have to accept it Anzu, there's no way around it. Unless their regulations change, this is what we must tolerate." He pulled back and looked her in the eyes, "Now, why don't you explain to me why I have a ninja on my couch?"

"Well, my punishment was held at the usual place… and _he_ was my reaper." She scratched the back of her head bashfully. "I… uh, got him pretty hard…"

Konami smiled as he messed with her hair. "You troublemaker; have you tended to his wounds yet?"

She left her father's arms and grabbed the tea cups. She handed her father his tea and left for the living room. "I was waiting for him to wake up." She walked over to the coffee table and set the tea down next to the first aid kit. "I don't know when that'll be though. I don't want to disturb him; his body needs all the rest it can get. He'll heal faster that way."

He nodded, glad to see that his daughter was doing her best to care for her assaulter. "Well, do you know who he is?" He knelt by the couch, examining the mask that covered the man's face.

Anzu shook her head. "I've never seen him before. But he's an older mad. Like he could be your older brother." She smiled. "He's a very kind looking man. I don't know how someone like him was pulled into such a ruthless organization."

"Hmm…" Konami pulled the mask over the ninja's head, withholding a gasp. "_This_ was your attacker?"

Anzu approached the couch, looking at the man's face. "Yes. Why? Do you know him?"

Konami clenched his fists. "I more than know him. This is my teacher… He's the one who instructed me when I was first initiated." Angry tears burned his eyes, "He was the only kind man I met in this dreadful organization."

By now, Anzu was grasping her shirt as she caressed the side of the old man's face with her finger tips. "He was your teacher? Who _is_ he?"

Konami shook his head. "He never revealed his name. For years I've tried to discover it, but he has kept who he truly is completely hidden from his students… this damned organization is just disgusting…"

Anzu shifted the old man's grey bangs across his forehead, watching him sleep. It was late and they needed to let him rest. "We need to let him rest dad. I'm sorry that this happened…"

Konami stood, a heavy sigh escaping him. "So am I, Peach." He reached for her and hugged her with him left arm. "So am I." He kissed the top of her head before they both grabbed their tea cups and went upstairs, turning off the lights.

As soon as they left the room the unnamed ninja opened his eyes immediately. Silently he rose from the couch and maneuvered his way over to the coffee table, using the inferior first aid kit to tend to his wounds. The peroxide provided a healing sting to the major bruises on his arms and torso. He smiled; even though the kit was quite simple and inferior to the kits he was used to using, the kind gesture was more than enough to soothe is aching body.

As soon as he finished, he left to grab the third tea cup to quench his dry mouth. The liquid was silk on his tongue. After he drained the cup he quickly replaced his mask over his head before looking at the time, managing to make out 8:45 PM. He shook his head and sighed silently, slightly disappointed that this day did not turn out exactly the way he expected.

He opened the window to the kitchen and, as gracefully and silently as a cat, leapt out of the window on to the grass before him. He looked back once at the house before taking off down the street and into the deepening night.

A week and a half later Anzu continued to go to school as normal, reluctantly continuing her Kaiba assignment. The relationship between said two grew worse every day since their fight. Rather than avoiding each other like the plague, every single time their eyes made contact the temperature in the room fell below freezing, burning with frostbite. Silent arguments and a constant battle of wills managed to manifest in the classroom through the lesson somehow.

Other students feared to step in between the two lest they were caught in the cross fire. Even most of the teachers went out of their way to avoid putting a stop to the fighting. No matter how harsh or brash their arguments managed to get, they never disrupted the class period. Rather they waited until one spoke their opinion on the topic; usually it was Kaiba who strategically countered Anzu's input with his own and Anzu would would take his statement and throw it back in his face with her own twist on it.

Between her heated arguments with Kaiba and her "mourning" for her mother, Anzu was emotionally, and physically, fatigued throughout the week, and this particular day was no different. For the past few days she had managed to hide herself away in the library where she could enjoy the silence that was enforced by the strict librarian who ran it. Here, in the back of the library, in one of the hidden corners between the walls and book cases, was her sanctuary.

She leaned against the wall, crossing her outstretched legs over each other and zoning completely into her music player. In the cool of the air conditioned building she watched Kaiba closely through her sunglasses. The mere sight of his face made her so angry that she wanted to break something.

With disgust she forcefully removed the glasses from her face and threw them into her bag. There was no point in seething in anger about this now… it wouldn't do her any good. She had, as _he_ put it, more important things to take care of; the Kaiba she actually _liked_ for example.

She pulled out her 'Wooden Horses' Mokuba and slid them on to her face. He was in the middle of class right now, looking decidedly uninterested.

She frowned that this. Over the past few months she'd noticed a change in Mokuba's behavior. He was lacking in respect for his elders, playing the lone wolf, not to mention he had lost a great amount of eloquence in his speech. In other words, he was growing to resemble more and more of his older brother. This brought an uncomfortable twisting feeling into the pit of her stomach. A boy as sweet as Mokuba should not be corrupted to mirroring the image of someone so cold-hearted.

Then again it was almost inevitable that Mokuba would gain at least part of the ruthlessness his brother has. After all, Kaiba was the only person Mokuba had in the world; his only family. She sighed… she really despised the fact that Kaiba had such a bad influence on his younger brother. It was disgusting.

Through her glasses she watched as Mokuba sat in the back of the classroom during the break, all alone to his thoughts. He stared out the window at nothing in particular. He shifted his eyes lazily to a piece of paper lying on his desk and scribbled almost mindlessly on the page. Out of curiosity, Anzu zoomed in to the content of the paper and chucked softly when she saw that he was doing homework. _Well at least he is keeping up with his studies_. This loosened some of the knots in her stomach about Kaiba's influence on Mokuba. Kaiba may be a bastard, but he did stress the importance of a proper education for his younger brother.

_At least he cares about __**someone**__ in this life_, thought Anzu.

She glanced down at her watch and saw that lunch was about to end in about five minutes. She sighed; time to head back to her torture chamber. She disconnected her sunglasses and slid them into her bag before taking her sweet time to head to class.

Students strolled into their classrooms as languorously as they possibly could before the bell to begin class rang. Sluggish from lunch and distracted with the day nearing its end made concentrating on the lessons very cumbersome, even for the teachers. Which is exactly why one teacher always did her best to keep her final class of the day as interactive as possible to keep the minds of her students exercised, firmly believing that an idle mind was useless one.

Higurashi-sensei was the newest teacher at Domino High and was by far the most energetic about her classes. She started about two years ago and took a particular interest in Anzu the moment their eyes met. For some reason, Anzu always felt apprehensive and nervous around her. It wasn't that she distrusted Higurashi, there was just something about her that made Anzu feel that there was so much more to her than a simple high school chemistry teacher.

Anzu sighed, she was probably just being paranoid. Ever since she was initiated to the organization she constantly assumed that everyone had a deeper identity than what they displayed in public. It was clear that she needed a break from her constant surveillance of Kaiba and a disconnection from the organization. Otherwise it was going to drive her mad! _Not that wasn't in the process of doing that already_, Anzu thought bitterly before sighing again. It was a good thing that this class was more-or-less interactive class. Anzu could certainly use the distraction.

Chemistry was a class in which she excelled in. It was one of her favorite classes for many reasons. One reason being that they were able mix dangerous chemicals together to create something and every time they did, Jounouchi and Honda always managed to make something that was explosive and blow up the lab, thus giving them a free day. And another reason being that they were often given projects to work on in groups. Which was what they were doing today; Higurashi-sensei was assigning a project to the class, and they were going to use machines used in crime labs to identify suspects and victims. Anzu couldn't help but feel that she had an unfair advantage over the others in her class. When she went through her training, she was forced to do some CSI work as well.

When Gozaburo organized the secret police he didn't skip any steps; and the trainees were not favored with a learning curve. They had her go through _everything_ from physical defense and offense to collecting DNA and tracing the suspect in question back to the criminal mastermind. She might as well have been a police officer or something like that! But then she was also schooled in a wide variety of subjects: biology and anatomy being major topics. She knew all of the pressure points on the human body and where important arteries and veins were located. She could easily slit one of her opponents' major arteries without killing him instantly, but quickly. It wouldn't be extremely painful, but it wouldn't be painless either. Anyway, the point was, Anzu was more experienced in this field than any other person in this class . . . except for possibly Kaiba. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes . . . he was still reading.

She doubted that Gozaburo would have made him undergo training like that, but then again she didn't know if Kaiba took an interest in this sort of thing. She assumed that he wouldn't since he really didn't do anything else outside of looking after Mokuba, running his company, and playing duel monsters. Well, there was always reading, but she knew that he didn't really take too much interest in what he read. It wasn't like he was a book worm or anything; after all, it was just something he thought was better than sitting in class and pretending to listen to the teacher; but she did wonder what he read at times. A couple of times she caught the titles of the books and every time they were different genres: mystery, sci-fi, sometimes horror, and one fantasy (but it had to do with dragons so it was acceptable). But she never saw him read anything along the lines of scientific studies . . . unless it was a manual of some sort.

She sighed and turned her to face the teacher. And speaking of manuals . . . Higurashi-sensei was going over the instructions on how to work the machine, so Anzu momentarily let her mind shut out what the teacher was saying. The instructions were really basic for her so she didn't need to listen. Now she knew how Kaiba felt more than half the time. Maybe she should bring a book next time.

Kaiba focused intently on his book after he the teacher announced her plans for the next few days with this project. He rolled his eyes, utterly exasperated with the instructor's obvious obsession with an American TV drama. However, he tuned in to the teacher's instructions on how to operate the machines. He knew a little bit about this already because of the scientists in his company who were familiar with this area of research, but he never focused on it. He constantly directed his energy on things that required his attention.

Then he felt a pair of eyes on him . . . again. He glanced up and saw Anzu staring at out the window when her gaze met his, and suddenly the temperature in the room dropped below freezing. Anger, disgust, and frustration seethed between the two for several long electricity charged between their glares. It was a silent contention of wills manifested into a staring contest. Of course, since both students were on opposite sides of the room from each other they began to disrupt the rest of the class with their mute battle.

Higurashi-sensei cleared his throat. "Mazaki-san and Kaiba-san, please leave your quarrelling for _outside_ of my classroom. I will not have you steal this valuable time away from the rest of my students."

Anzu faced the front of the classroom, biting back a disrespectful laugh at her instructor's comment but Kaiba didn't restrain his. "Steal their valuable time? This school is stealing my valuable time away from much more important matters. This project is a joke and I have better things I could be doing rather than sitting here."

Higurashi-sensei frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, if that's how you feel then I suppose I will just have raise the stakes then." Kaiba quirked an eyebrow. "Kaiba-san, I would like to see you and your new partner, Mizaki-san, after class concerning your assignments." With that she continued on with the rest of the class, making an exasperated Anzu and disgruntled Kaiba wait for the next hour to learn their new assignment…

_Ask not for whom the bell tolls. For the bell tolls for thee… _That phrase immediately entered her mind as the dreaded tone of the bell rang to end the day. Every student hustled out and quickly emptied the room, leaving Anzu and Kaiba behind to the teach. Higurashi-sensei stood at her desk, staring at her two students silently, the atmosphere becoming heavy with icy irritation before she called them both: "Both of you please come up to my desk"

Both students begrudgingly stood and approached the teacher's desk, both figuring that the sooner they get this done and over with the sooner they both get to go home. However the moment they were beside each other both of their countenances expressed disgust and bitterness towards the either. There was clearly and icy front between the two and it was subsiding any time soon. Higurashi-sensei sighed, which is exactly why she was doing this.

Higurashi-sensei merely shook her head as she sat down in her desk. "This has gone on long enough you two." Both of their eyes fell on her at the same time, both intense with scathing repulsion towards the other. "You are disturbing not only my entire class with your lack of courteousness between each other, but the entire school! I've heard many complaints from the staff here that any time you two are in the same room together, things take a turn for the worst and we've all had enough of it. And now, I'm going to fix that."

This caught their attention. How is she planning on fixing anything that didn't concern her? Anzu thought that to be very presumptuous of her and Kaiba thought that she was insane. She was actually going to try to _force_ them both to get along with _each other_. Yes, the teacher was very new indeed.

"And this will be your new assignment with the DNA lab. Both of these projects _will_ count towards your grade and it _will_ make up at least fifty percent of your entire year." Anzu's widened and Kaiba's face hardened. What was she planning? "This is a required class that you have to pass before the end of the year; if you do not pass this class you will not graduate so you will have to make this work."

Both students grimaced, she was being unnecessarily cruel to them both and Anzu repressed a sigh. This was not going well for her. "Fine. What is the assignment?" She acquiesced, not really having a choice in the matter. Kaiba refused to dignify the so-called "instructor" with any kind of acknowledgement or acceptance of her statement.

Higurashi-sensei, with a solemn expression on her face said, "I'm assigning you two the privilege of being each other's significant other."

Anzu looked about ready to vomit and Kaiba seethed. Who the hell did she think she is messing with his life like that? No teacher had a right to do that and make it accountable towards an academic grade. "How dare you try and impose something so disgusting on me! I will not allow you degrade my lifestyle by forcing this wretch into my life and call it an 'academic project'."

Anzu burned with rage as she retaliated. "For once, Kaiba, we're in agreement! I refuse to allow my precious life to be tainted by your presence. Seeing you in class is revolting enough. I watch to retch every time I see you!"

They both glared at each other mercilessly before Higurashi-sensei clapped her hands. "That is enough! Both of you!" She slammed her hands on her desk, growing more impatient by the minute, "And you are wrong Kaiba-san. I can force this on you and it _is_ an 'academic project'. If you recall correctly, this is a _chemistry_ class. And even though we primarily cover equations and bio-chemistry there is still the matter of chemistry between two people that should be explored in this class as well. Now, I also have a Ph.D in psychology and I have discussed this with the dean of the school and he has granted me permission to carry out this project. You two will be living together _as a couple for the __**rest**__ of the __semester__._" Anzu opened her mouth to protest but Higurashi held up her hand, "I don't want to hear it Mazaki-san. Your arguments with Kaiba-san have upset everyone in the school and the dean agrees that this project will help you two to finally get along."

Kaiba laughed incredulously. "Wow, if they agreed to this idiotic plan then their backs must really be up against a wall. Sorry to disappoint you Higurashi, but there is no way I am dealing acquiescing to a plan so thrown together." He headed for the door.

"It's not a request Kaiba. It is an assignment given to you by your chemistry teacher. Try as you may like, but you will end up doing this project. I guarantee it." Higurashi-sensei's comments stopped him in the door way and he turned around. "CEO of KaibaCorp or not, you are the role model and caretaker for your younger brother. If you decide to quit this class and decide to fail the rest of this year I doubt social services with look kindly on you and your influence on your younger brother."

Kaiba's expression grew dark. Higurashi-sensei was treading dangerous territory. "Watch your mouth Higurashi."

Higurashi-sensei stood from her desk, "Coming from someone with experience, do NOT risk that chance. Do the assignment, pass the class, graduate and never look back. Karma catches up with everyone and it will get you too." Higurashi-sensei was almost growling at her student.

Kaiba eyed the instructor up and down. This teacher was from the same litter as Anzu was, Kaiba decided. She annoyed him and didn't fear him, but what's worse is that she had a point. Kaiba knew just how cruel reality was, being a product of it himself, and he could never risk Mokuba like that. He would fall on the sword for his younger brother; and if that also meant subjecting himself to the foolish plans of a mentally disturbed instructor then so be it. Kaiba scoffed yet remained in the doorway facing the teacher and Anzu.

Higurashi-sensei took that as a sign of acceptance of her terms as she sat down. "Very well then; now for the conditions of this particular assignment: You will have a set of goals to achieve. You will to set these goals on your own, though. The whole purpose of this assignment is to see how much you can learn about the other and see how they operate." She stood again and opened the top drawer of her desk, taking out two dark blue velvet boxes.

Anzu felt the color drain from her face as Kaiba grimaced. The shape of those tiny boxes was painfully distinguishable. Higurashi-sensei came from around her desk and grabbed Anzu by the wrist, leading her over towards Kaiba. She handed him one box and handed Anzu the other. They painstakingly opened the box to find simple gold wedding bands resting in the stiff cushions.

"Your assignment begins now. Kaiba-san, take the ring and place it on Mazaki-san's left ring finger and Mazaki-san please follow suit." Both teenagers objected openly to such a symbolic moment of devotion and loyalty that should only occur at the appropriate ceremony, however Higurashi-sensei didn't fold easily. "Look, this isn't a ceremony and there are no vows to be said. Just put the rings on each others' fingers. Surely you're both competent enough to place a ring on the other's left ring finger, yes? Or am I wrong?" She asked this, glaring up at her tall, male student.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. He had nothing to prove to this offensive instructor, yet he found himself automatically taking the ring and roughly placing it on Anzu's appropriate finger. She frowned at the callous nature he used towards her hands and treated him with the same courtesy, earning her a distasteful frown from him. Higurashi-sensei then picked up their hands, joined them together and declared them as "husband and wife".

"Mazaki Anzu, please be aware that you are now Kaiba Anzu in my class. I will still use your family name, however whenever we are conversing amongst each other I will refer to you as 'Kaiba-chan'."

"This I must object to," proclaimed Anzu. "This is a project, nothing more. I will not allow myself to be referred as a 'Kaiba'."

"For once, I agree with her. I will never allow my name to be desecrated by someone so repulsive."

Anzu reached up to smack him but Higurashi-sensei caught her wrist before it could make contact and shook her head, a deeply intense look in her eyes that warned her to not harm him. "Do not harm your husband Kaiba-chan, and you need to have more respect for your wife Kaiba-san."

"Don't make me retch." Spat Kaiba. "She-"

"Concerning the conditions, your wife, and as such you _will_ respect her." Higurashi-sensei stepped away from the door. "From now on, you two will be living together under the same roof." They both gaped at the teacher. "Kaiba-chan, please explain to your father the circumstances of your situation. I will come to check on you in the coming weeks. I hope you will have a report on what you have discovered about each other by then." She pushed passed Kaiba to the empty hall, "I bid the new couple adieu." And with that, she disappeared down the hall.

Anzu and Kaiba continued to stare at each other, slowly absorbing everything that had just transpired in expressions of disdain, contempt, and seething anger. It would seem that they were stuck with each for the next few months. They were sure their lives could not get any more worse than this.

_Ask not for whom the bell tolls. For the bell tolls for thee…_ and Anzu was sure she felt herself die.

* * *

All right some author notes here. First off: I want to apologize to to you all for updating this so late. I was slacking so much that OnyxThorn actually decided to become . . . well, let's just say Thorn to me was like Shigure's editor to him . . . except not as animated nor insane . . . yet! I'm pretty sure that if I slack again Thorn'll start getting pretty creative . . .

Secondly: I'm sorry that this is such a long chapter. But it just kept coming to me! I had so much fun with the end I was, literally, dancing in the kitchen! Also, I like long chapters, the apology is only for those who don't have the patience.

Lastly: I want to say that yes, I am still going to raise the rating to this story, but not yet. Not until I after I finish that one scene that will force the rating to go up. Once I post the chapter with that in it, then it will get bumped up to "M". It's coming soon so, yeah, if you're not supposed to read "M" rated material, then please skip over that part! I will put a warning at the beginning of the chapter so if you're uncomfortable with reading that sort of thing, please don't say that I didn't warn you . . . Well, anyway, save for that scene, everything else is pretty much "T", at least that's what is in my head at the moment. Things might change . . .

And I also feel that I must say that for all of the more perverted readers out there, I'm not going to include any excessive or tasteless sexual content in this story. I will do my best to keep it mature for when it comes so please bear with me . . .

Anyway! I hope you enjoyed this incredibly long chapter of mine! I enjoyed writing it so I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Thank you for all of your reviews! Much love to you all!

Cangel41790


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